Mother's sewage agony

KNYSNA NEWS - A mother and her young son have had to cross a sewage rivulet, created by an overflowing sewerage manhole, for the past four months, to get to work and school.

The woman, who requested anonymity, lives in an informal settlement near Calender Street in Hornlee, Knysna.

She said she had, over the four months, repeatedly asked the municipality to stop the overflow, but "nobody has shown up".

She had also WhatsApped the mayor, Aubrey Tsengwa, and her ward 11 councillor, Russel Arends, asking them to take action, but had not received a response.

The sewage rivulet is about 2 metres from her front door.

She had to cross it daily to reach Calender Street, and travel to work, and her son (15), each day during school terms.

'Fallen a few times'

Ground alongside the rivulet "is slippery and I've fallen a few times", and she battled to put up with "the terrible smell".

After the sewage caused her son to experience difficulty in breathing, a doctor supplied him with an asthma pump, "which has made him feel a bit better". She herself had "started to get ill".

Her home was one of six in the settlement, and "eight to ten people, including children, have to cross the sewage every day".

'Can't use our toilet'

Sewerage manholes were overflowing in Pitt Street in central Knysna this week. Sewage from one of them filled a roadside trench, and sewage from another, in the front yard of a home, flowed strongly.

"We can't use our toilet," the homeowner said at around 17:00 on Monday 23 September. "I phoned the municipality at 9am, and they're not coming."

Last week, a manhole overflowed in Trotter Street in the town, the sewage from it entering the Knysna Estuary via a concrete channel.

Recently, sewage from overflowing manholes in the town and in suburbs also eventually entered the estuary.

'Ongoing crisis'

PR councillor Mark Willemse (KIM), a member of the Knysna Estuary Pollution Committee, said: "It's (sewage entering the estuary) been an ongoing crisis for a number of years. It comes from years and years of no maintenance."

Peter Bester, the councillor for ward 10, in which part of the town centre falls, has escalated Knysna's sewage problem to Dion George, the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Western Cape government.

Comment on this has been sought from George and the provincial government, and the municipality was asked to indicate what steps it would take to stop the sewage overflow in Hornlee.

Sinkhole

Bester said the formation of a sinkhole in Long Street had caused a sewerage pipe to break, probably causing build-ups in the surrounding sewer network, and resulting in manholes overflowing, as seen in Waterfront Drive.

Last week, the municipality said of the situation in Long Street: "The sinkhole at the intersection of Long and Union/Mortimer streets is impacting reticulation in the lower CBD, causing further blockages.

"An external contractor has been appointed and will begin repairs within the next week. In the interim, sewage is being extracted via septic tanks and pumped to the wastewater substation in Union Street. The municipality is closely monitoring the situation and will provide the community with updates as the repairs progress."

An overflowing sewerage manhole in Pitt Street, Knysna.