The municipality has raised suspicions of deliberate sabotage following the persistent dropping of foreign objects in the Swartklip Road sewer pipeline.
Residents near the Montrose Park and Swartklip Road sewer pipelines have been grappling with consistent sewer overflows.
According to ward councillor Avron Plaatjies the City of Cape Town’s water and sanitation teams were working on a “stubborn blockage” on the main sewer line in Swartklip.
“We have found illegal dumping in the sewer line which is the root cause of these obstinate obstructions,” he said.
Residents who received visits from the executive director, mayoral committee member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien, and other senior department officials said they wanted the matter solved immediately.
Mr Plaatjies said they were on site for several days to resolve the matter and were battling to remove foreign objects from the pipes.
“I strongly condemn the sabotage of our sewer infrastructure to deliberately frustrate the residents of Ward 76,” he said.
Last week the Plainsman fielded two complaints of the stench and infestation of flies.
Earlier this year the Plainsman reported on residents being fed up (“Fed up with sewage spills”, Plainsman January 17; “Morgenster residents fed up with filthy vlei”, Plainsman January 31).
Last week resident Madge Roach contacted the Plainsman again to report that the February scheduled cleaning was done but “not done properly”.
“Our neighbour’s yard was flooded again in sewage, which entailed the poo to be dumped in the canal which caused a terrible stench and you can imagine the flies are breeding.
“My question is why can the sewer problem of Morgenster not be sorted, for rates paying citizens who purchased our houses during the 1980s, paid our houses for 30 years and are now sitting with this ‘health hazard’ which is affecting our health in our senior years. It is unacceptable,” she said.
Ms Roach said the whole community was affected.
She said with pending housing projects more people were due to move in and be dependent on existing failing infrastructure.
Mr Badroodien told the Plainsman that the water sanitation maintenance team continues to respond promptly to unblock the pipelines, while also trying to mitigate the issue by raising manholes to prevent objects from entering the system.
“Despite these measures, blockages persist. In an attempt to deter further interference, lockable covers have been installed on critical manholes. However, this did not dissuade vandals from resorting to cracking the concrete around the covers to gain access,” he said.
He said frequency of recurring blockages suggested deliberate attempts to obstruct the pipeline.
During the latest clean-up operation, workers removed large boulders dumped into the manhole, which required considerable manpower.
Items such as motor vehicle seats and pillows were also retrieved.
Mr Badroodien said it was the City’s priority to resolve this issue and restore normal functionality of the Swartklip sewer pipeline.
“We urge residents to collaborate with us in addressing this issue by reporting any incidents or observations of dumping into the sewer pipeline immediately.
“Residents can call on local law enforcement if they witness any damage being done to the raised manholes.
“Together we can work towards safeguarding infrastructure which performs a critical function and resolve this problem,” said Mr Badroodien.
