Vandalism of Riverside pump station concerning, says councillor
The ward councillor said she also received reports of dead fish spotted in the uMngeni River following the vandalism.
WARD 36 councillor Shontel de Boer has voiced her concern over alleged vandalism to the Riverside Wastewater Pump Station on Riverside Road.
According to De Boer, this led to raw sewage flowing into the uMngeni River.
In the past few months, water-quality tests along various sections of the river have revealed just how polluted the river is with E. coli (sewage bacteria).
“There have been ongoing issues with this particular pump station, but I was informed it was recently vandalised due to no security on-site. It is now not operational, and naturally, the untreated effluent is flowing into the river and ultimately into the sea. I also received reports of dead fish spotted in the river, which I then forwarded on to senior officials within the City to alert them to the issue.
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“In response, the City confirmed that the station had been vandalised and that they were in the process of an emergency requisition to install a security guard on-site. When I visited the station recently, the security guard was on-site, and I believe the City are now in the process of getting the parts to conduct repairs to the station,” she said.
It is unclear whether the recent sewage overflow on Riverside Road near Browns Drift Road was related to the vandalism incident.
Despite attempts to reach the eThekwini Municipality, they did not comment on the alleged vandalism.
Meanwhile, in a recent budget engagement with business leaders, Durban mayor Councillor Mxolisi Kaunda confirmed there was a delay in resolving some sewage spillages.
“Progress is being made to resolve sanitation blockages by increasing resources to our teams to prevent ongoing spillages. Currently, our focus is on preventative maintenance that has seen the City purchasing 16 new sewer-jetting machines, and an additional 28 will be delivered by August this year. This has resulted in the reduction of general sewer repairs from 5 679 in December 2023 to 2 555 in March this year. The delay in resolving some of the spillages is due to ongoing refurbishments at some of the storm-damaged sewage-treatment plants and restoration of major bulk sewer systems,” he said.
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