Cllr Geoff Pullan of eThekwini Ward 58 writes:

Recently there have been water quality issues at some of eThekwini’s rivers, the latest being the oHlanga River which flushes into the ocean at the northern end of Umhlanga.

The insurrection in mid-July was to blame for the destruction of numerous businesses, warehouses and the UPL disaster.

Unfortunately, chemicals spilled into the oHlanga River and badly polluted that lagoon.

Added to this is the amount of sewage entering our stormwater drains, streams and rivers.

All of this pollution ends up in our beautiful Indian Ocean.

Many fingers are pointed at problems at our sewerage works, but my own experience of travelling around Ward 58 is that there are breaks and blockages in sewer lines – well before the sewage gets to the pumpstations.

Food processing plants and even restaurants contribute to fats that wash into the sewer lines which coagulate and in time block them.

If the sewer pipes are not rodded regularly, the sewage spills out and aims for the nearest storm water gully!

I’m afraid this all points to lack of maintenance and enforcement.

The worst part is that our sea gets polluted and becomes unsafe.

The E. coli levels from the sewer water make it unsafe to bathe in the sea near river outlets.

This compromises the city’s Blue Flag beaches, which are such a useful marketing attraction for our tourism industry.

The municipality seems to be reacting to each crisis, rather than putting in place a comprehensive plan to prevent this happening so often.

The DA has repeatedly called for the employment of qualified personnel in all our service departments.

The days of jobs for pals has long gone. The public aren’t interested in who the city employs, they just want the best man/woman for the job.

As the DA eThekwini spokesperson on Blue Flags, I am concerned that these river spills of faecal matter will eventually wash up on our beaches.

I urge all citizens to report any sewage spills to your local councillors and officials.