Troublesome Mbombela storm water drainage the last straw
Littering was one of the main challenges the municipality pointed out when it comes to blockages in drainage systems.
Despite promises from the City of Mbombela’s (CoM) spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, that the municipality was going to clear out and unblock all drainage systems in September 2024, many of them are still clogged and unable to cope with rainwater, rendering the roads dangerous for motorists and pedestrians.
Some motorists are urging the CoM to keep its promises and clear the storm water drains, as they have become dangerous when it rains. Residents say most of the roads where the drains are blocked are flooded with water. This results in motorists driving into oncoming traffic, endangering all of them.
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One such motorist, Danie de Wet, said: “The municipality promised that they would clean the drains before the rain season, but nothing happened. We now have non-stop rains in the Lowveld region and streets are flooded with water. This could have been avoided if the CoM did their jobs.”
According to another resident, Justice Mogale, some of the storm water drains had been blocked for many years, while others are damaged and not being repaired.
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“I personally wrote to the municipality several times asking them to unblock the drainage, but I only got empty promises. I am aware that some of them are blocked due to littering on the streets by people, but the municipality needs to intervene and make sure they are functioning again. We have people who are paid to do that, but they are not doing it.”
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Ngala still insists that the CoM is going to clear out and repair the storm water drainage systems in the city, saying some had indeed been cleaned out.
“Littering is one of the major concerns when it comes to the blockages of the storm water drainage. We can clean them daily, but as long as motorists and residents continue to litter, they will always be blocked. We are also calling on affected people to contact us when they have these challenges; we will attend to them once the rain has settled,” he promised once again.
