Mandeni stink infuriates residents

If Helen of Troy had a face that launched a thousand ships, then the smell in Mandeni could sink them.

The town has always had a slightly ‘off’ smell but residents claim it has become so much worse in recent times that it is barely livable.

“We live with this stench, it is so thick you can almost chew it,” said one resident, who did not wish to be named for fear that his dealings with the municipality would become even more difficult.

The Courier paid several visits to Mandeni, seeing (and smelling) first hand as sewage bubbled out of manholes into the stream that runs through the town.

On a tour of the town with locals The Courier was shown how, upstream from the Sappi mill and the sewage, the stream was thriving with insects, crabs and small fish.

About 300m downstream it is dead – not only dead but a strange, thick greyishblue colour.

One man said they had even seen it pink before. A spokesperson for Mandeni municipality, Sizwe Khuzwayo said they were aware of the problem with the sewage system.

“This matter was raised at an IDP meeting with ratepayers the previous week where iLembe District Municipality (Water Services Authority) representatives acknowledged the challenge due to the pumps having broken down and the matter was being attended to.”

However, residents said they have been complaining for weeks and were always told there would be another meeting about it, or a committee set up, or an investigation launched – but day after day the smell remains the same.

Where the stream runs into the Tugela River the waters run side by side, with a dark sludge from the stream not mixing with the riverwater.

This is not the only infrastructure headache plaguing the small town. Just last week the darkest prediction from residents came true when a pedestrian was hit and killed at a traffic light that locals say has not worked for months.

“We have been saying for a while that they will not do anything about it until someone dies, now we wait to see if there will be action.”

Meanwhile, the municipality also began construction on new municipal buildings which have since been standing virtually abandoned and barely half finished.

Brick columns stretch upwards, half built and with metal rods pointing to the sky, but bush has overgrown the site and the fencing is collapsing in places – which is not a big concern because the gate stands wide open, inviting any passing vagrants to make the building their home.

Khuzwayo said there are “about” four packages to be implemented in different phases.

He said the project was on phase 2 and phase 3, which involves construction of a council chamber, security gate and security fencing.

“These phases were being constructed by two different contractors. The contractor for the gate and fencing had business challenges and ended up surrendering his contract. This was a setback as the municipality had to re-embark on a tendering process to complete the outstanding work. But due to technical reasons, this process will have to be started afresh.”

This is not the only abandoned municipal building. A house in Patrys Road was bought several years ago and used to house traffic officials. Locals claim the officials lived there a few years ago but were kicked out when it was discovered they were selling licences.

Khuzwayo neither confirmed nor denied this.

However, the concern for locals is that the house is now standing empty and is a haven for vagrants.

On a visit to the house, The Courier saw mounds of trash lying before the front door, the house itself is filled with smashed computers and TV’s, destroyed furniture and old filing cabinets full of documents.

These documents include records of traffic violations with the offenders’ personal details clearly listed and available to anyone who would take the time to look through them, as well as auditors’ reports and more.

Khuzwayo said the municipality had recently conducted inspections of all municipal owned properties and an item with appropriate recommendations was being submitted for consideration. “It can be confirmed that documents found in the house in question were are very old documents that were kept in the house for storage purposes due to lack of more storage facility within the municipality.

“Yes the house was secured before but due to vandalism the situation is a bit out of control, hence the report to council mapping the way forward to ensure that there is a proper and safe environment in neighbourhood.”

These promises are not pleasing the residents though, who say the municipality has been giving these issues the run-around for years.

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