Sewage and greywater trouble
Blocked drains, sewage leaks and greywater build-up form a major problem in Benoni and, for many people, the problem is worsened by a slow response time to these complaints.
On Luton Street, Benoni South, sewage has been running down the street for the past seven years.
Ricardo Teixeira, an employee at Petit Boards, situated in the street, told the City Times the problem has not been fixed for as long as it’s been running.
“The municipality came out a few times to look at it, but they never fixed it,” he said.
“Now the sewage is also starting to block the toilets on our premises.”
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) was approached about the problem, but, at the time of going to press, no comment had been received.
On the corner of Lake Avenue and Tom Jones Street, a blocked drain causes a constant presence of water in the street, causing several issues for the surrounding businesses and residents.
Danie Steyn has worked at Renau Pro’s for the past eight years and said they have always had this problem with water in front of the building.
“In the evenings, the water starts to stink so much you don’t even want to eat,” he said.
“When it rains, the road isn’t even visible and the stench becomes unbearable.”
Charl and Margaret Smith are the owners of the shop and said nobody has come out to fix the blockage since they took over, in March.
They told the City Times the municipality has sent out a team only once, to inspect the blockage, but since then nothing has happened.
They believe much of the stinking water comes from the block of flats next to their business.
“The water builds up in the basement, then the owners have to pump it out to the street in front of us and it smells terrible,” said Margaret.
According to EMM, there were no sewer blockages on the site, but an illegal discharge of greywater from surrounding buildings.
“EMM’s water quality division was requested to further investigate and attend to the matter accordingly,” said Themba Gadebe, EMM spokesperson.
Smith said the blockage is damaging their client base, due to the smell and damage to clients’ cars.
“When it rains the water is so deep the street seems to be level with our pavement, which it isn’t, then people often damage their cars as they pull up to the curb too fast,” said Charl.
