A rehabilitation of the Nancefield pump station has been in the works for at least three years but sewage continues to flow.
The scene behind the Nancefield pump station near Soweto, 17 July. Picture: Nigel Sibanda / The Citizen
A great swamp of sewage is soaking the fields adjacent to a failed pump station in the Soweto suburb of Nancefield.
Residents have been complaining about the wastewater station for several years and the municipality’s response has been slow.
DA members, including party leader Geordin Hill-Lewis, visited the area on Friday as part of a city-wide infrastructure inspection.
‘Waterfall of sewage’
The tender for the rehabilitation project went out in January 2024 and the DA stated its intention to request a Public Protector probe into the project.
“This is just a literal waterfall of sewage flowing out here into this vlei and the rivers around here.
“The entire infrastructure here, backing up for kilometres, is completely broken, with all of this sewage just pouring into the wetland,” said Hill-Lewis.
WATCH: Sewerage pours out of broken pump station pipes
Vincent Naidoo, a resident of Eldorado Park Ext 9 for over 40 years, said the pump station’s failure resulted in sewer and drainage blockages at his home 3 kilometres away.
“Whenever you ask for assistance, it is constantly being told there is no funds. Now, what is important in life, is the funds important or the health or the people or the concern of the community.
“It overflows and it is a health hazard. We are begging and pleading for assistance to sort this problem out,” Naidoo told The Citizen.
Project nearing completion
Johannesburg Water stated on Monday that it was making progress at the pump station, with work needed on the pipes, pump, motor, valves and plinths at the wastewater station.
Valve manufacturing has been completed, painting had been done and pipe manufacturing was nearing completion having underwent factory testing last week.
The entity says the work on various outstanding components are between 60% and 80% complete, and is confident it will have the project complete soon.
“The pump and motor manufacturing has been completed, and the units are currently in storage while construction of the pump plinths gets underway.
“The pump plinth designs have been issued to the contractor to facilitate the next phase of construction, while work allocated to the local small, medium and micro enterprises continues to advance,” Johannesburg Water concluded.
