Newlands residents are complaining of decay and lack of service delivery from the municipality. This follows after a number of drain and manhole blockages were reported by residents of Newlands East and Newlands West, but to date has not been addressed by the municipality.
An elderly resident of Newlands West said it has been almost three years since she started reporting a sewer drain situated inside her yard. The blockage and overflow started in March 2018, however has not been resolved. Devi Pather residing at 90 Havenhill, Hillgrove says that the overflow is damaging her property and attempts to have it revolved have all failed.
“The last time I called the municipality I was told that they were short-staffed, however, when a team is available one will be dispatched to my house. Till this day no-one has come through. “In the past two weeks The Springfield Weekly Gazette reported on two other sewer drains and manholes which have not been attended to by the municipality. When contacted for comment the municipality failed to respond. In the western area of Newlands another incident was reported to the Springfield Weekly Gazette where a resident called the newspaper to view a sewer drain which is over- flowing with raw sewage and is causing a bad smell.
This drain is situated on Duckbill and Kontakel Avenue, Newlands East. This particular drain was reported by a resident, Mr H Soloman, to the municipality in December.
Soloman said: “It has been more than two months since I reported the matter. When I called the municipality I was given a reference number and was told that the matter will be resolved in less than 24 hours. This has not happened. The response we get is that the municipality is short- staffed due to lockdown regulations and the staff are working shifts.
We are on lockdown level 1 but still there is no service delivery. Our councillors are also failing us as residents and rate payers.”
The residents said they feel that Newlands is a forgotten area but when it comes to elections they will be remembered. Ward 11 Councillor, Joyce Johnson, was contacted to check if she was aware of the leak on Duckbill and Kontakel Avenue. She said that a team was seen working on the spill on Tuesday, 2 March during lunch hours.
Johnson said: “I saw people working on the spill on Tuesday and I presume it was fixed. I was also informed that there has been a backlog but the municipality has been sending teams out in my ward and most of the drains have been fixed,” said Johnson.
Ward 37 Councillor, Gugu Zulu, said she was aware of matters in her ward, however at times they are beyond her control especially with drains inside the residents’ properties. “I have in the past reported these kinds of issues such as the one of 90 Havenhill.
The municipality takes very long to attend to them as they normally feel that the drains are not the responsibility of the municipality but the home owner,” said Zulu.
Zulu said that she will however revisit the matter and report it to the water department again so that it can be looked at. EThekwini Municipality was contacted for comment however none was received at the time of going to print.
