The Beyers Naude Municipality this week blamed the drought for persistent sewage leaks in Graaff-Reinet, saying that the lower water flow in pipes is causing major problems – but a damning report in 2017 warned the municipality back then that urgent repairs were required as investigators found channels dug to direct raw sewage straight into the Sundays River.

Even before that, in 2012, the municipality’s head of infrastructure, William Berrington, warned in a submission to Parliament that extensive repairs and capacity building were needed for the town’s sewerage infrastructure. These included an upgrade of the water reticulation system, the replacement of valves and iron and clay pipes, and a waste water system.

In 2017, after a complaint was filed by residents over the ongoing sewage spills against the Beyers Naude Local Municipality, an expert appointed by the Department of Water and Sanitation, Sonwabile Menyelwa, found that the town’s ageing sewage system had “failed to cope” with population growth and that in one case channels were dug so that sewage from overflowing manholes flowed directly into the Sundays River.

According to this report and other ongoing reports of the problem, several sites in the town are constantly plagued by sewage spills. These include one near the Camdeboo National Park, one behind the tuberculosis hospital and one near the Kroonvale Primary School. In almost all these cases, it has been reported that raw sewage was flowing straight into the Sundays River.

Menyelwa added in his report that spillages were not properly cleaned and would only be covered with lime after they were fixed.

“Sewage remains in the river and the smell remains unbearable.”

He wrote in his report that this investigation was necessitated after the Beyers Naude Municipality would not return calls from the Department of Water and Sanitation about the situation.

“A visit was therefore paid to Graaff-Reinet to satisfy the department on the real case,” he said. Menyelwa wrote in his report that he found a manhole behind the TB hospital in the town that was constantly overflowing and that stones were placed on another to stop it from overflowing.

A former councillor in the municipality and now member of Parliament, Samantha Graham-Maré, said as a last resort they would consider laying criminal charges against the municipality over the sewage problem.

“To date, it appears that absolutely no action has been taken by the municipality to address any of the issues raised in the report.

“I was repeatedly contacted by members of the public with respect to the ongoing sewage leaks from various manholes around the town. One member of the public, the late Mr Claud Arnott, was particularly vigilant in his ongoing pursuit of the resolution of this issue and was in regular contact with the erstwhile Department of Water and Sanitation.

“Sadly, all complaints were referred back to the municipality who, in every case, advised that the matter was being attended to. This was not the case,” she said.

She said that since then the municipality had provided several reasons for the constant sewage spills, including that pumps were vandalised, load-shedding, blocked pipes, payment problems of contractors, vandalised generators and the ongoing drought.

The town is experiencing one of the worst droughts in history and its main supply dam, the Nqweba Dam, has dried up. Drinking water is being donated for residents and the area is experiencing frequent water outages.

She said the Collie Koeberg Stadium, used for sporting events, has “deep channels of sewage” running across it.

“At Tronkdrif, there is a prison, as well as an entire suburb in Graaff-Reinet that is being extremely badly affected by the stench of sewage and the extremely high levels of methane. It is so bad that residents cannot leave their windows open because it burns their eyes and throats.

“Accommodation establishments have had to close down because it is too unhealthy an environment for people to stay in. The environmental pollution is extreme. When it does rain eventually, all of the effluent will be washed downstream to Kirkwood where the Sundays River is used to irrigate export quality citrus. The contaminants could impact on this industry severely,” she added.

She added that the problem is only resolved for a day or so and then it starts all over again.

Beyers Naude Municipality acting spokesperson Wilca Smith confirmed that they were aware of the extensive sewage spill.

“Yes, we are aware of it. The pumps will be repaired,” she said. “The water shortage plays a massive role in the sewage problem. The sewerage sludge is thicker due to low water flow in pipes and as a result it causes pipes to be blocked and pumps to break down.”

Corene Conradie, who heads up the Graaff-Reinet Water Crisis Group, said the smell of sewage was unbearable in some places.

“Children wake up with headaches in the morning. There are some places where even the estate agents will refuse to try and sell a house because the smell is so bad,” she said. MC