Sewage spills have again flooded Grahamstown homes and streets. Nkosinathi Booi, who lives at Extension 5, told Grocott's Mail on Thursday that his house was flooded by sewage Wednesday 6 August, and they have reported it to the municipality.
Sewage spills have again flooded Grahamstown homes and streets. Nkosinathi Booi, who lives at Extension 5, told Grocott's Mail on Thursday that his house was flooded by sewage Wednesday 6 August, and they have reported it to the municipality.
"They just came and looked at it but it was not fixed, there is sewage flooding in front of the kitchen door. We cannot even cook, the smell is unbearable," said Booi.
He said this was not the first time they had sewage spilling inside their home.
"This happens every now and then and they (Makana) promise to come and fix it but nothing happens. I have eight children living with me and it is not healthy to have this stuff all over the yard," Booi said.
A sewage spill at the entrance to Prince Alfred Street was being splashed around by motorists yesterday. Makana Infrastructure and Engineering director Thembinkosi Myalato said his team was out attending to all the reported sewage blockages.
"The problem with sewage is that it is unlike water where we can see that levels are going down, with sewage we depend on reports from the residents and then fix them," he said.
He said currently they were aware of Rhodes sewage spills and their team is attending to that. "We have sent out teams to attend to the Rhodes University and also at De Villiers Close and unblock the sewer lines."
Myalato said another challenge was that the sewerage lines are small and fill up quickly. He said depending on the amount of sewage flooding into the Kowie River they report it to the Department of Water Affairs and Ndlamble municipality since the river is their water source.
Health experts warned in June that Grahamstown is sitting on an environmental health time bomb.
CEO of Fort England Psychiatric Hospital Dr Roger Walsh told Grocott's Mail that an outbreak similar to the one in which three children in Bloemhof died could happen here ('Expert warns of sewage time bomb', Grocott's Mail 13 June 2014).
Three children died in Bloemhof, North-West, in June, and many more became ill, after contact with sewage-contaminated water in the Vaal River.
