A burst sewerage pipe on the corner of 8th Avenue and Rev Sam Buti Street has finally been fixed, after two weeks of spewing stinky human waste into the street. Alex News was alerted to the burst pipe by one of our readers, Patience Lungile Dubazane, who wondered why it was taking Joburg Water so long to fix the sewerage pipe which they had reported several days ago, soon after it burst.
When Alex News arrived at the spot, Joburg Water was already there, and its workers were busy trying to flush out whatever was clogging the drainage system.
When the items started coming out, the workers on the scene said they were not surprised at what was clogging the drainage system as they discover this all the time at various blocked points in Alexandra and the entire City of Johannesburg.
Out came babies’ disposable nappies, dish cloths, baby teets, pot scrapers and sanitary pads. “I think your newspaper has a big task ahead to educate our people not to flush all these items that have come out here today. We need the mighty power of your pen in helping us spread the message against flushing all these items down our sewerage pipes,” one of the workers told Alex News.
Some of the items removed from the blocked drainage system in 8th Avenue.
Nico Thwala, a victim of the pungent smell of raw human waste for the past two weeks, said they had reported the burst pipe immediately when it started spewing its filth out.
“Three smaller trucks than the one today were here, tried and failed to unblock the pipe. I think Joburg Water must have realised the problem was bigger than the trucks they had been dispatching, hence they sent this one and the problem was solved,” Thwala said.
“We are grateful to Joburg Water and its staff for finally saving us from our misery of having to put up with this stench. We could hardly enjoy our meals in the past two weeks,” he added.
Workers on the site said before they came to this burst pipe, they had been to three other sites, not just in Alex but in other parts of the City of Johannesburg. “I wish our people can appreciate the delay sometimes as it is not out of laziness on our part but due to the numerous callouts we have to attend to,” the worker said.
He pointed out that the sewerage and water infrastructure in this city was old and dilapidated and hence it needs constant monitoring and regular maintenance.
What do you think needs to be done to educate people not to flush items such as disposable nappies down their toilets? Facebook us on Alex News
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