Sewage spill leaves disgusting stink
An inquiry was sent to the Ugu communications team on Monday last week.
The stench of raw sewage from a broken manhole in Tintown, Gamalakhe, has resulted in residents living with their windows and doors closed because of the horrible smell.
A Ward 28 resident, Nkosinathi Mfeka, told Fever that the problem had been going on for over two weeks.
When the Fever visited the area last week, there was a terrible smell a few metres away from Mfeka’s home.
Mfeka said they now have to live with their windows closed because they can’t bear the smell.
He said their children are now forced to play on the road, which is a safety hazard with vehicles up and down, as their yards are flooded with sewage.
“When I initially called Ugu District Municipality, I spoke to someone who said plumbers would be sent. I called three times, and no one came. It was only after my fourth call that technicians were sent,” said Mfeka.
He explained that Ugu plumbers pumped the manhole.
“A few minutes later, sewage spilled from another manhole a few metres from my house. When they attended to that new spill, about 20 minutes later, the problem recurred. The plumbers told me there was a broken pump at the main sewer, saying that when people flush their toilets, nothing pumps the sewage to the bigger sewer,” said Mfeka.
He added that Ugu promised to return to fix it, but they never did.
An inquiry was sent to the Ugu communications team on Monday last week.
Zimbini Ntlangula-Mpurwana said: “The municipality has a functional complaint handling system where residents can report service faults 24/7, and our teams are working tirelessly to attend to cases. Gamalakhe is one of many communities that make use of such systems with positive results. To facilitate the resolution of this case, they should share the details of the complaint and a reference number received when they first reported the case. Given the seriousness of the case, we will appreciate that we deal with the resident directly to speed up the process.”
The Fever sent Mfeka’s contact details to Ntlangula-Mpurwana, and a follow-up inquiry was sent on Wednesday, but no comment had been received at the time of going to press.
Meanwhile, Mfeka said they want Ugu to fix the problem.
“We cannot live like this. We have kids who know nothing about sewage who can go and play in the spill. Some of my neighbours struggle to walk out of their homes as the spill runs in front of their doors,” said Mfeka.
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