FOR years, sewage has been spilling over on Fritz Potjieter’s land at his Willow Park home.
The main sewage pipeline that services Willow Park and Collondale runs through the Buffalo City Metro (BCM) resident’s land and is, nine months out of the year, blocked up and overflowing with sewage, according to Potjieter.
“I couldn’t stop them from putting the pipe through my land, but from the beginning I knew there was going to be a problem. The pipe is too narrow,” he said.
Potjieter has continuously tried to contact Buffalo City Metro Municipality (BCMM) in an effort to resolve the problem, but has not been able to get hold of anyone.
“A while ago, they came and fixed small sections of the pipe, but there are serious problems further along the pipeline too. If it doesn’t get fixed, my land will have a constant flow of sewage running over it indefinitely,” Potjieter said.
He fears not only for his land, but also for the pollution this flow of sewage creates in the Hickman’s River and the health risks it poses.
“I have a ravine at the bottom of my property which leads into the Hickman’s River. All that sewage flows down there into the river. Kids play there, it’s so unhealthy,” Potjieter explained.
BCM resident Martinus Swanepoel has also complained about a bad smell coming from the bushes behind his home on Morningside Road in Saxilby, where a sewage pipe runs down.
“We’re a corner house and behind us there is municipal land overgrown by dense bush. It’s so bad, the grass and shrubs are as high as my home. Since last year October there’s been a bad smell coming from there. We can’t even open our windows,” Swanepoel complained.
He and his wife have reported this to the municipality. It was found that there was a problem with the sewage pipe, but nothing was done about it.
“My wife spoke to a municipal worker, who told her that the only way to get things done was to take these issues to the newspapers,” said Swanepoel.
When contacted, BCMM indicated that they were not aware of any issues reported and requested that the complaints be more specific so a team could be sent out to investigate.
