Durban — President Cyril Ramaphosa must live up to his promise of providing R1 billion in aid to KwaZulu-Natal, after sewage spills into rivers and Durban beach closures.
This was the view of IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi, a member of the eThekwini executive committee, in reaction to the latest sewage spills into the Umgeni and Ohlanga rivers, north of Durban, at the weekend.
In a speech on April 18, Ramaphosa declared the floods a national state of disaster and immediately made R1bn available to support relief and recovery efforts and to restore basic services. Neither eThekwini nor the KZN government have received the funds, and eThekwini Municipality had to reprioritise its budgets to fix flood-damaged infrastructure.
A video revealing “shocking scenes from the banks of the Umgeni River” was taken by ActionSA KwaZulu-Natal interim provincial executive member Pete Graham at the weekend.
The video has gone viral on social media. Graham said Durban had no consequence management in place so the situation would continue and in all likelihood worsen. Graham is also chief executive of Singakwazi Aid, a water purification public benefit organisation.
Graham said sewage was coming from the stormwater system alongside Riverside Road and not the pump stations. On Sunday, the Daily News saw several residents stopping to look at the river while one person was stopped from fishing under the bridge where the spill was reported.
“This shows how terrible our infrastructure is. No maintenance to ensure blockages are cleared quickly to minimise the amount of sewage going down the stormwater drains. I am concerned that the city is opening up certain beaches. I would not put my big toe on eThekwini beaches or in the rivers. If this is what is going into our river, you would be a fool to go into our seas,” Graham said.
The Sunday Tribune, the Daily News’s sister publication, reported that the faulty Blackburn pump station caused wastewater to flow into the Ohlanga River and then into the sea, contaminating uMhlanga beaches on Friday, thus affecting the tourism industry in the north of the city.
Duncan Heafield, chairperson of the uMhlanga Tourism Authority, said they were worried about the state of the beaches, which were a tourism drawcard. Heafield said the northern beaches from Blue Lagoon to Westbrook had been closed for 220 days, and there were only seven weeks to go before the festive season began.
Nkosi said the weekend’s spillages showed how serious the situation was. Nkosi has repeatedly asked that the water and sanitation department be given bigger budgets.
“eThekwini does not have money like before. Now we are in a serious problem. Ramaphosa needs to be honest with the people in eThekwini. The premier and other MECs live in KwaZulu-Natal. Can they not see what is happening and being reported on? The leadership does not have the interest of humanity to assist people. We call upon the president to give eThekwini the money promised,” Nkosi said.
DA KZN Environmental Affairs Committee spokesperson and MPL Heinz Heinz de Boer said at the heart of the issue were the empty promises made by Ramaphosa, who had promised R1bn to help flood victims.
De Boer said the DA, before the floods and particularly after the floods, conducted dozens of oversight visits at pump stations and outlets, and at rivers across the province.
De Boer said sewage hot spots including Ladysmith, the South Coast, in most parts of Durban and at Richards Bay had been visited.
“The city was then put on terms and there have been dozens of contravention notices issued to it by the province. I cannot emphasise how many times we have called on the government to unlock national disaster funds to repair sewer infrastructure,” De Boer said.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the water quality had improved at various beaches since the municipality had commenced repairing infrastructure. He assured residents that by November all Durban beaches would be ready for bathing.
Daily News