Morningside residents are up in arms after a burst sewage pipe caused sewage to overflow from manholes to flood a car park in a block of flats.
The residents said the problem has been going on for two weeks and they had reported the matter to the municipality. When approached for comment the eThekwini Municipality said it was addressing the situation.
Nick Pitman, who lives in a flat in the affected building, said a sewage pipe collapsed about two weeks ago.
“It caused sewage to seep into our building’s car park. We are on the ground level and we are exposed to the sewage water and we can’t open our doors and windows. I had to resort to trying to push out the sewage water myself.
“The municipality told us two weeks ago that they are repairing the pipe, however, they encountered some problems and did a temporary fix.
“The problem is that there was heavy rain again this week and it caused the sewage to flood the place again.”
Another resident, who only gave her first name as Sumaya, said her flat was flooded with sewage.
“I was severely affected by the sewage problem. It not only has flooded the car park it has also flooded my house. It’s just a terrible situation. I had to use 18 towels to clean my house and sanitise my house as the stench was unbearable.
“I have been living here for 13 years and it’s the first time it has happened, it’s not a situation where I can just stay somewhere else, I don’t have anywhere else to stay.”
She said the problem was an urgent matter and posed a major health risk.
“This is not a problem that can resolve itself, we know they have started excavating but they also need to think about the sewage water that is standing here. We need this removed as we can’t wait till the pipe is fixed.”
EThekwini Municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said: “The City is aware of a 5m deep X 300mm diameter sewage pipe which is currently under repair at Gladys Mazibuko Road in Morningside.
“Our teams are on site conducting the repair and are investigating the source of the issue.”
The Mercury