Business fed up with stink
Business owners are holding their breath, hoping for the metro's response
Businesses in Hamburg Road, Apex, are fed up with sewage constantly flowing into the street as well as their premises and are demanding action from the council.
According to Fred Thompson, owner of several properties on the street for the past 40 years, the deterioration of Apex has been notable and little is being done when complaints are logged with the CoE.
“We have been reporting the flow of sewage to the metro since the beginning of February. If and when they tend to the matter, nothing is resolved and the contaminated water keeps flowing,” said Thomas.
“There has not been a day that this street was clean or dry, I have spent close to R50 000 in an attempt to find temporary solutions to prevent my factory from being flooded, yet the cause of the problem is not being addressed.”
Betsie Serfontein, from a local mechanical workshop in the street believes that the constant flow of effluent is posing a major health risk to everyone within the area.
“We moved into this premises at the beginning of April and not a day has passed where we have not been exposed to the stench of faeces,” said Serfontein.
“Sewage runs like a river behind and through our yard often building up and flooding the workshop. We have never battled with respiratory problems as we do now.”
Thomas continued by saying that over and above his rates and taxes of nearly R32 000 per month, he has spent an additional R30 000 to rehabilitate the road surface that has been damaged by the build-up of water and further spends R900 weekly on casual labour to clean the mess.
“This is beyond ridiculous, the sewage is now not only flowing from every manhole but is also running from the Apex D11 pump, yet our calls are ignored.”
At the time of publication, no comment had been received from the Ekurhuleni metro.
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