Centurion businesses at worst end of stick due to sewage spillage
“But the most concerning is that this water flows into the Hennops River, so I see this as an environmental disaster,”.
Business owners in Sunderland Ridge area on Sesmylspruit Road are worried about the negative impact a massive sewage spillage in the area is having on their businesses.
Riaan Struwig, who owns a business in the area, said his business has been inconvenienced by the spillage which started about two weeks ago.
“This spillage is right at the gate of my business and people have to drive through it when they come here.
“The smell is awful and it is quite embarrassing knowing people are smelling it the whole day when they visit us,” said Struwig.
Struwig said he was also concerned about the environmental impact the sewage spillage might have.
“We have many boreholes here and the sewage is contaminating the water.
“People who work for us have to drink this water and it is used by the restaurant as well,” he said.
“But the most concerning is that this water flows into the Hennops River, so I see this as an environmental disaster,” he said.
According to Struwig, this was not the first time sewage has spilt out in the area.
“They [metro] installed this new sewage pipe a few years ago and this is about the fifth or fourth time it has burst and flooded our area like this,” he said.
Another business owner, Jacques Fourie, fear that his business might lose revenue as a result of the sewage spillage.
“It’s the first thing people see when they drive in here and they have to drive through to get to us. It’s very embarrassing,” Fourie said.
“We put a lot of effort into building up our businesses and it’s very sad to see it looking like this.
“I just hope the metro does something soon,” he said.
Tarryn Johnston, the founder of the Hennops Revival Project, said the situation was very worrying.
“Based on my in-depth knowledge and quality testing conducted over the past two years, sewage is nothing new to the Hennops.
“The reality is that isolated incidents like this, only highlight that which is continuously flowing into our rivers countrywide,” Johnston said.
“Countless burst manholes, sewage mining and the failing infrastructure of wastewater treatment works along the Hennops result in hundreds of megalitres of sewage per day flowing into our water.
“We are in deep troubled waters, we do not have time and we are not taking this seriously enough,” said Johnston.
Tshwane metro has not commented by the time of publication.
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