Amanzimtoti Bird Park Sanctuary is the latest victim in Toti’s ongoing sewage saga.
A resident, who did not wish to be named, photographed sewage in the pond and river that runs through the park.
“My girlfriend and I went to the sanctuary on Wednesday, 7 May,” he said. “When we walked in, we smelt sewage, but we thought it was blowing over from the pump station in the vicinity. When we got to the pond we saw the water was pitch black. The stench was much worse. When we walked over the bridge we could see the water was two different tones.
This is not acceptable. We don’t have much left in Toti. The bird park should be looked after. This is disgusting.”
Local wildlife photographer, Fred Steyn and his wife, Hilda uploaded photos of the sewage-filled river and pond on the bird park’s Facebook page.
Chairman of Sapphire Coast Toti Tourism, Jacques van Schalkwyk forwarded the photos to the district manager of parks and recreation, Bruce Blake out of concern.
His reply was this is a regular occurrence when the waste water pumps fail upstream. “Unfortunately sewage then overflows into the stream that leads to the ponds. There are also waste water sewer pipes below the ponds, which also overflow from time to time,” he said. “(There is) not much we can do about it other than hope for rain to flush the system.”Bernadotte Street resident, Lee Lewis believes the sewage in the sanctuary could be linked to the collapse of the sewer line in her street last year.
She said she first noticed the current state of the bird park as far back as a month ago when she went to inspect the premises. “We sourced food to feed the ducks, but I’m too scared I will poison them if I put the food in that water,” she said. “There aren’t many ducks left and those you do see, look very sickly.”
