Sewage problems continue

LEPHALALE – The problems with the sewage system in town is an ongoing concern for the past year. It has been an inconvenience to residents and local businesses alike.
“My sewage problems started a few years ago and since I have had sewage spilling into my yard from a manhole outside my property every once in a while,” said Jan Janse van Rensburg, who owns Jan-né Hair salon in Snuifpeul Crescent. “The first time, the sewage seeped into my yard a few years ago, it was so bad that the raw sewage floated up to my back door and flooded my swimming pool.”
Three weeks ago Janse van Rensburg experienced a similar problem when the manhole again overflowed. “The appalling smell caused me to lose about R5 000 in income per week,” he claims and says he had to endure three weeks of sewage spilling into his property before the situation was rectified. “I am not only upset by the loss of income, but I am concerned about my dog that fell ill right after the incident.”
According to Janse van Rensburg he has two small Yorkie dogs and the sick boerboel. “The Yorkies seem to be fine as I mostly kept them inside the house, but the boerboel developed sores on his legs and started to throw-up.”
A restaurant owner near the Mogol river in OR Thambo Street said that would-be-patrons left his restaurant as soon as they realized what the bad smell was. “I can’t say that I blame patrons for deciding to eat somewhere else, but I am losing money that will not be refunded by the municipality who I blame for the problem,” said the owner (who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of losing even more customers).
DA ward councilor Astrid Basson said that the sewage problem is unacceptable since there are far less contractors in the town compared to the past few years and the excuse that the infrastructure can’t cope with the amount of people living in the area is simply not relevant. “Residents, including businesses, failed to get any reaction from the municipality when they reported sewage problems due to a labour dispute within the municipality and the phone number that was circulated to report problems remained unanswered at times.”
“I think that an effective reporting-and-response system is of utmost importance and should immediately be addressed with an investigation to determine who is responsible for the collapse of current services and possible disciplinary steps against those responsible.” 
The Lephalale municipality responded by saying that a service provider was appointed by the Limpopo department of water and sanitation for the upgrading of the pump station near Palm Park (Pump Station 23). “The designs have been completed and the contractor should be on site within the next week,” read the statement.
On the dilapidated sewage network the municipality stated that the bulk of the infrastructure networks in Lephalale are more than 30 years old, necessitating the municipality to put several contracts in place for the upgrading of the sewage and water network. “The Municipality is in the process of appointing a contractor for the operation and maintenance of all the pump stations as well as the Paarl Waste Water treatment plant. Previous attempts to appoint a service provider failed, as contractors were non-responsive.”