For months now a leaking sewer pipe has spilled raw sewage out onto a sidewalk and main crossing posing an ongoing health risk to pedestrians that are mostly children.
The sewage runs from a drain in Paradys Street between Brackenfell Primary and High schools onto the busy Frans Conradie Drive.
“It’s a stinking mess! Cars drive through it and splash the sewage water on pedestrians and other cars,” says concerned citizen Andries du Preez, who lives nearby.
According to Du Preez, sewage started spilling from the drain more than two months ago at least three times per week.
“Most of the pedestrians are children walking to one of the schools, but there are also people walking to work and joggers,” he says.
“I have seen the City’s truck at the site at times over the months, but it does not appear as if the problem is being seen to or that the City is cognisant to the health risk this poses,” he says.
The City’s acting Mayco member for water and sanitation Siseko Mbandezi says the spillage was caused after the sewer pipe had to be cut to retrieve the head of a jetting pipe that became lodged inside the sewer pipe.
“The City’s distribution services department is in the process of locating and retrieving the head of a jetting pipe that became lodged inside the existing sewer pipe while attempting to clear a blockage.
“The head of the jetting pipe became wedged against an obstruction and cannot be retrieved. As a result, the pipe had to be cut while other approaches for retrieving the jetting pipe’s head are being investigated,” he explains.
He says a CCTV night inspection had been scheduled for 3 November.
“The majority of work has to be conducted at the busy intersection of Frans Conradie and can thus not be done during the day due to traffic. Any attempts to retrieve the jetting pipe’s head will only follow after the CCTV inspection is conducted and the location of the obstruction is identified.”
The City apologised for the inconvenience caused.
