Dump Truckers defend themselves against illegal sewage dumping claims
"I also have a few questions for the public. "Why would the truck driver dump in such a public place? "
The News reported that a sewage removal company had allegedly dumped its load into a storm-water drain on the R28 near Hillsnax on 2 February.
The initial complaint was lodged by Dr Deon Lotz and Jan Brandt, one of whom alleged that he had witnessed the sewage being dumped into the drain.
Read the initial article here: Raw sewage woes haunt town
Lourens du Toit, a sales executive and problem solver for Dump Truckers, the company implied in this incident, said the whole issue was a misunderstanding.
He claimed that the truck was on its way back from an egg farm in Muldersdrift and was transporting water-and-egg waste. He said one of the pipes had blown off the truck and was dragging behind it on the R28. Motorists allegedly hooted to alert the driver.
“The truck driver stopped in the yellow lane to re-position the pipe onto the truck and when this happened Lotz probably stopped behind the truck, thinking they were dumping onto the side of the road,” said Du Toit.
“There’s no storm-water drain on the side of the R28 heading up towards Krugersdorp. To get rid of their load, dump-truck drivers need to park their trucks over a drain and dump the load into it. They do not use pipes like Lotz claimed.”
The truck in question has a capacity of 6 000 litres truck and if the dump valve had been opened, the whole road would have been flooded. Du Toit said the liquid that spilled into the storm-water ditch was fluid left in the pipe after it had been extracted from the source.
Photo: Submitted.
“There was a disinfectant on the truck which they could have used to neutralise the liquid.
Du Toit also had a few questions for the public.
“Why would the truck driver dump in such a public place? Why would they stop on such a busy and dangerous road to purposely dump there? If they were doing something illegal, don’t you think they would rather have sought a place out of the public eye?”
Du Toit said this truck was not being used by the municipality, but by a private client.
“The municipality uses three of our very large trucks because the smaller ones just do not have the required capacity.”
He claimed the complainants did not even contact him and that he only heard about the issue two days later when the News contacted him for comment.
“We can’t just dump anywhere, it’s against the law,” Du Toit said. “If the municipality had been using the truck, one of its employees would have been present for them to dump anything anywhere. It’s part of the agreement.”
Du Toit believes this incident was either politically driven and a way for the party representative involved to show commitment to whistle-blowing and to impress the community, or a personal vendetta by an opposition company trying to destroy the good name of Dump Truckers.
Councillor Zillah Maguire, who had been dealing with the issue, said she was very glad that Dump Truckers clarified the issue. “Communities in the surrounding areas are on high alert due to all the water issues they have been experiencing, and I believe that the company’s response will definitely give the residents peace of mind,” said Maguire.
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