The origin of the gentle, rejuvenating sound of water murmuring is an overflowing manhole in Mopani Avenue in Florapark.
The Standerton Advertiser took time on 2 August to drive past Laerskool Jeugkrag’s sport fields to investigate.
Muddy tracks left by a vehicle were clearly visible as well as a trench that was dug where sewage flowed into a creek that stretches kilometres.
A gaping hole near the manhole of about two metres was also not cordoned off.
An e-mail was sent to Ms Thobeka Mtshiselwa, communications manager of the Lekwa Municipality, in this regard on 2 August.
Ms Mthiselwa said the trench was dug to locate the problem and as to the health risk that could be involved, the municipality indicated their willingness to minimise the risk.
The Standerton Advertiser in a follow-up email stated that the trench is only a few centimetres deep and asked what this shallow depth of digging revealed, as no pipes are visible.
Ms Mthiselwa was also asked whether municipal workers blocked the sewage from flowing down the trench and polluting the creek when they were trying to locate the problem.
In the first email sent to her the Advertiser asked whether the relevant department knew where the creek leads to and if it might be contaminating other water resources.
The initial response was: “The sewage blockages happen from time to time and as mentioned above they are attended when noticed or reported.”
Needless to say, the Advertiser responded by stating that Ms Mtshiselwa might have misread the question and forwarded the same question to her again.
However, no further communication was received even after a pre-agreed grace period of two days was extended to almost three weeks.
Mr Hillel Coetzer, regional coordinator of AfriForum for Mpumalanga-West, is of the opinion that ageing infrastructure lies at the root of the problem.
