Repairs to begin on collapsed sewer pipes

Mthandeni Myende, municipal spokesperson, said following the severe flooding that impacted Newcastle in early 2023, nearly all sewer pumps were rendered inoperative, resulting in frequent sewer collapses throughout the town and surrounding areas.

“These pumps are essential for directing sewage to designated channels, and the failures have had significant repercussions,” said Myende.

The Newcastle Municipality responded by launching various projects to repair these essential pumps and replace aging sewer pipelines to prevent further effluent spillages caused by the ongoing infrastructure challenges.

“Currently, the municipality is addressing sewer issues on Draper Street at the intersection of Panorama Drive and Ferret Street, where road closures are in effect due to excavation for new pipe installation.”

Myende added that the project was spearheaded by the Newcastle Municipality’s Technical Team and expected to be completed by the end of next week.

The municipality reiterated that it remained dedicated to accelerating service delivery and fostering development across all areas of Newcastle.

“The installation of new sewer pumps and collapsed sewer pipes will extend to every affected area, ensuring that the infrastructure is resilient and prepared to face future challenges,” stated Myende.

Newcastle Mayor, Cllr Xolani Dube, emphasised the municipality’s commitment to restoring essential services to ‘enhance the well-being of all residents.’

Newcastle resident’s Forum responds:

Matthew Shunmugam and Neil Sooknanan of the Newcastle Residents Forum (NRF) stated that they had relentlessly been working on resolving the sewer crisis in Newcastle.

“It started with the visit to the Patterson Street houses in November 2021, accompanied by officials from the Department of Environmental Affairs. Nothing tangible came of that visit; many photographs were taken; we were informed that a non-compliance letter would be sent to the municipality and that the matter is before the DPP waiting for prosecution,” they said.

The NRF then made submissions to the KZN Human Rights Commission who then visited Newcastle specifically the Draper Street area.

“Most important to note is that the work at Draper Street took more than five months to be resolved. It is mind boggling what the eventual cost of the project was for a municipality which is financially distressed. Besides the damages to the parking lot of the crematorium. There were also water outages, accidents and damage to fibre lines.”

“Non-compliance letters were going to be served, and they requested that a holistic report of sewer problems be forwarded to them. A comprehensive report was sent, we received an exchange of emails, and the last communiqué indicated that they were awaiting a response from the municipal manager, again another procrastinating stunt.”

The problems of sewer, according to the NRF, have continued unabated, including the main road to Siyahlahla Housing Development, Link Road, Osborne Street, and Jordan Street.

“The Ncandu River is literally caked with sewer; now the Golf Course area has raw sewer flowing in the Ncandu River leading to Amcor Dam. Most of the sewer pump stations are dysfunctional. Maybe the Newcastle Advertiser must reach out to the KZN Human Rights Commission and KZN Department of Environmental Affairs to highlight the gross violation of human rights and how such government institutions could allow this abuse to continue unabated.”

They further stated that other towns have won many legal battles regarding the sewer problems, and courts have placed the offending municipalities on terms.

“The question that arises is: are the ratepayers of Newcastle ready to engage in a legal battle to resolve their problems? As NRF, we believe that we have the paper trial and information at our disposal to win such a court battle, but we have to be realistic about the matter regarding legal costs,” they concluded.

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