Municipality names illegal mining as cause for sewerage blockage

KNYSNA NEWS - In a press release issued this morning, Wednesday 19 October, Knysna Municipality's Director of Infrastructure Services Pravir Hariparsad identified the main cause of the recent sewage spills in the Hornlee and Hunter's Home areas as illegal “mining”.

"It is an ongoing problem,” he said. “Manhole covers are removed, and sandbags and nets are placed in the sewer system.” Illegal miners harvest money, gold and other valuables and this is the main driving force behind the illegal practice.

He said these blockages were the cause of the spills recently experienced in Hunter's Home.

"Our teams investigated and found that a line was damaged in Hornlee. The manholes on the Hornlee line are approximately 12m deep – too deep to work on without safety concerns. All efforts to repair this line failed and for the last week we have been building an alternative sewerage line. The rebuild was completed yesterday [18 October]."

Hariparsad emphasised the importance of the public's help in combatting the problem.

"I call on the public to report any suspicious activities via telephone on 044 302 6331. Blockages not only have hygiene and health concerns, but also use valuable municipal manpower that could be put to better use elsewhere.”