Botanical garden sewage leak deemed nothing more than stagnant water
Silulumanzi has responded to claims of a sewage leak at the Lowveld Botanical Garden, saying it was just stagnant water.
Leon Marais said he had gone birdwatching in the garden with a few guests from Pretoria on September 27 when he spotted what appeared to be a large puddle of sewage.
“We spotted it on our way to Cascades View. It was running under the wooden stairs,” he said.
Marais said the smell was awful and shocked the Pretoria visitors, who also thought the puddle was sewage.
> Photo: Leon Marais
Silulumanzi’s spokesperson, Richmond Jele, said the puddle was not a sewage leak, and was in fact a small body of stagnant water.
ALSO READ: KNP Hazyview Gate closed third day in a row due to protests
“According to information at our disposal, a call was received by one of our call centre operators and a photo was sent to us on September 30, which was on Facebook,” said Jele.
“A job card was created and a team was immediately deployed to investigate and resolve the issue.
“Our foreman met the garden’s manager on-site and confirmed that this was most likely stagnant water. There is no sewer line at this particular vicinity. We further checked the sewage pump station further from this spot and found everything in good order.
“We are not aware of any further complaints or reports from the staff or management of the botanical garden about sewer blockage or spillage,” he said.
