Broken sewage pump station still irks residents
It is months later and still nothing has changed.
eMBALENHLE – Residents of Ext 22 in eMbalenhle are still frustrated about the non-functioning sewerage pump station in the area.
The pump station was built several years ago through Sasol’s Ikusasa Project to fight the sewage spills that were overflowing in the streets and into houses.
Residents told Ridge Times this multi-million rand pump station which they thought will minimise spillages in the area, has worsened the situation.
The pump station is supposed to pump the sewage to the wastewater treatment works in Ext 8 but this only happened for a few years.
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Residents claim that mechanical breakdowns and the lack of maintenance from the Govan Mbeki Municipality led to the non-functioning of the pump station.
The pump station is filled with water and sewage, and exposed electricity cables to the guardhouse also pose an electrocution risk to security personnel who guard the property.
“The municipality should either repair or demolish the pump station because it is not helping us to eradicate the spills.
“Residents are exposed to diseases because the sewage is damming up around our houses because it cannot be pumped to the wastewater treatment works,” said local resident Muhle Zikhali.
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Lucky Mhlongo, who was then an acting communications manager at Govan Mbeki Municipality, said in June the water and sewerage department was attending to the problem.
The municipality would have brought in a mobile pump to pump out the water which would have prevented the sewage from flowing back to the community.
Ridge Times revisited the pump station to check if anything has changed since June, but the situation is still the same.
Gugu Mahlangu who resides next to the pump station told the newspaper that nothing has changed since the newspaper visited the area several months ago.
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Mahlangu said she is paying people all the time to clean her yard when she experiences a sewage overflow in her yard.
Donald Green, acting communications manager for the municipality, said since the pump station was flooded last year, the municipality tried to use a mobile pump but it could not cope because the pump station not only contains water, but also sewage.
Green said the municipality will appoint a service provider to build stormwater drainage and install pumps to prevent flooding which causes sewage backflow.
Green said the municipality is working around the clock to fix the problem.
