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Situated between the Harding Cemetery and Van der Bijl Street, a dirty secret is being hidden from the Newcastle community.
Litres of raw sewage is flowing into the Ncandu River after the Newcastle Municipality’s maintenance team was meant to repair failing infrastructure. According to sources who work in the vicinity, the Newcastle Municipality began working on the ageing infrastructure back in 2019. One business employee explains, “We were told the sewage system collapsed and it needed to be repaired. However, the work stopped some time ago. Now, due to the incomplete work, some of the toilets in the nearby businesses flood over, because the sewage is pushed back.”
She adds, her business questioned why the work was brought to a grinding halt. “We were told there was not enough money to continue.”
Adding to this, another source claims the maintenance team purposely diverted the sewage so it would flow into the nearby river.
Responding, the Newcastle Municipality’s Technical Services Department denied the allegations of work being paused, stating, “The project was not stopped but was temporarily halted in order to reprioritise the Municipality’s financials. Despite the financial constraints which the Municipality has been facing in the last financial year, and while the project is funded internally, we can safely say that this financial year the project has funds allocated for. We are very excited to reinvigorate our efforts towards the completion of this project.”
As for the raw sewage spilling into the nearby river, the Technical Department states, “There may indeed have been occasions where the sewage spilled into the river but means have been made to avoid further spillages.” Moreover, the department adds that measures have also been implemented to prevent the degradation of the environment while the project waits to be resumed.
As to when the project will recommence, the government entity stated, “The project has been reprioritised for this new financial year and the affected customers along Van der Bijl Street have been consulted.”
In addition, it also states that the Municipality’s Sewer Reticulation section does give an undertaking that this project shall resume shortly and be completed within this current financial year.
The Department concludes that it should also be noted that as the Municipality, they are being confronted with an ageing sewer reticulation network around the whole of Newcastle. All of which requires urgent replacement. However, due to financial constraints, the replacements can only be implemented incrementally.
However, while the Municipality prepares to address the issue, litres of toxic sewage flow into the water source, bringing health risks to the area. But as Carel Boshoff of IntgeriPure points out, “The water has been deteriorating and is no longer what it was. While it is not in a place where it is killing people, there are people with more sensitive stomachs and immune systems who are currently suffering due to the condition of the water.” Which, in his opinion, has been on the decline since 2014. Thus, why he affirms, residents should instead opt for purified/filtered water.
There appears to be a clear need to address the state of this prized necessity in the area, as this is not the first sewage overflow reported on in Newcastle over the past few months.
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