Sewage water erupts from a drain on the corner of Van der Merwe Street and Dahille Close in Strand, leaving behind a foul stench and littering the streets with rubbish, making it unbearable for residents.
This is what, according to the residents, they have had to endure intermittently for the past three years. According to Hanneli Gardiner, who has lived there for the past decade, the foul odour is affecting their everyday life. “You come home from work, and you can’t eat because the smell is so bad,” said the disgruntled Gardiner.
According to another resident, Johannes Conradie, the blockage in the pipe system has caused sewage water to be pushed back into his residential pipes, resulting in spillages onto the pavements.
One homeowner has had some unwelcome visitors – rats – from the sewage system, which found their way into the resident’s toilet pipes and gnawed at them. The resident had to call in pest control and replace the pipes. “On inspection of one of the sewers I found a massive sewer rat,” confirmed pest-control specialist Andrew Tindall from Bugsaway Pest Control Services.
The residents claimed they had reported these grievances to the City of Cape Town, but nothing had been done to fix the problem of the drain spillage. “You report it to the City, and they send people out. Then they close the service request, but as soon as it starts to rain a little the spillage returns,” said an annoyed Conradie.
The City has responded to the claims by residents, acknowledging that they are aware of the situation regarding the drain on the corner of Van der Merwe Street and Dahille Close. The City’s Mayoral Committee member for Water and Sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien, stated the spillages and blockages were a result of three collapses on the Trappies Sewage line in Strand (“More sinkholes occur in Strand”, DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette, 24 July).
“The City is aware of this issue as it is related to the upgrade of the Trappies sewer line, where there are currently collapses at De Villiers Street and at the corner of Thompson and Fagan streets. A contractor is currently on site doing the repairs,” said Badroodien.
However, the City did not directly respond to the claims made by residents regarding the spillage on their pavement, the rats or the unbearable stench affecting them. On Friday 16 August, the City’s Water and Sanitation teams were on site for the necessary clean-up and final work. But the problem returned on Monday (19 August) when another surcharge of the pipe occurred, again flooding the street.
This sewage problem is a part of a larger issue affecting the area.
Residents of Princeton Street in Helderberg Park related that a pool of water was formed due to an exposed pipe at their premises. According to Lawrence Lenders, the water appeared after heavy rain had occurred. He then reported the leakage to the City via Whatsapp on Monday 22 July. The Princeton Street resident said that he only received an automated response. Lenders sent multiple service requests, but no maintenance worker had been to his home for an inspection.
“We thought it would be attended to within five days, but it’s almost been a month and no response, which is worrisome. It’s water that is going to waste.”
According to Badroodien, maintenance teams identified the problem and the matter was resolved on Friday 16 August.
“The leak at Princeton Street was added to a long list of minor leaks in the area, which the maintenance team was working their way through,” he said. Badroodien assured residents “the City is constantly looking at ways to improve operations and implement programmes to replace /address ageing infrastructure in the city.”
