Mopani District Municipality’s (MDM) failure to resolve the massive and continuous sewage spills in the town is an indictment against management. The DA has already opened a criminal case against the MDM because of the massive raw sewage spills.
Oversight visits revealed major problems at both the Leguan pump station and the last manhole before the Air Force Base. Of grave concern is the continuous pollution at the wall of the Hoedspruit Air Force Base. View photos here, here and videos here and here
The manhole before the pipe enters the Air Force Base residential area where the treatment works are located has continued to overflow despite an attempt by the municipality to mitigate the problem by building a bigger manhole and replacing blocked pipes. The raw sewage is running into the open veld possibly contaminating ground water sources and causing massive ground pollution.
The raw sewage spill at the wall of the Air Force Base has created a sewage dam, this creates a favourable breeding ground for mosquitoes and a malaria outbreak cannot be ruled out as the sewage dam is adjacent to the living quarters of the Air Force. The spill threatens the well being of other species such as birds that are foraging in the sewage and this creates a terrible unhealthy situation for bird life and other small animals.
The standby generator at the main pump of the Leguan pump station remains unrepaired and is a disaster waiting to happen with the increased loadshedding. Following the DA’s efforts to open a criminal case, MDM implemented measures to mitigate the sewage spill at the pump station, the long grass was cut, litter removed, the pipe that was exposed was buried, temporary pipes were replaced with the correct size pipes, and both pumps are currently in working order.
Extensive rehabilitation is required to clear the large volume of raw sewage, and the main gate of the Air Force Base that has been closed for over four weeks cannot reopen unless the sewage is cleared and the area professionally rehabilitated. The standby generator at the Leguan pump station must either be replaced or repaired as increased loadshedding will result in sewage back up that will cause more spills.
The DA will closely monitor developments around these sewage spills and ask SAPS for an update on criminal charges laid to ensure that maintenance and repairs are done to the sewage system and there is rehabilitation of areas affected by raw sewage.