In a persistent battle against ongoing sewer overflows along Swartklip Road, the City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate says it faces a daunting challenge: continuous blockages caused by deliberate vandalism.

The situation has prompted suspicions of sabotage as the dumping of foreign objects into the pipeline persists.

Residents residing near Montrose Park and Swartklip Road have been enduring relentless sewer overflows, largely attributed to the dumping of various objects into the pipeline.

Despite the maintenance team’s prompt responses to unblock the pipelines and efforts to prevent objects from entering the system by raising manholes, blockages persist.

Even the installation of lockable covers on critical manholes failed to deter vandals, who resorted to cracking concrete to gain access.

The City says the frequency of these recurring blockages strongly suggests intentional efforts to obstruct the pipeline.

During recent clean-up operations, workers encountered large boulders and unusual items like motor vehicle seats and pillows dumped into the manhole, requiring significant manpower to remove.

Illegal dumping into the sewer network doesn’t just disrupt infrastructure; it severely impacts surrounding communities, subjecting them to the consequences of sewer overflows.

City officials have urged residents to collaborate by promptly reporting any incidents or observations of dumping into the sewer pipeline.

They emphasize the importance of community involvement in safeguarding critical infrastructure and encourage residents to alert local law enforcement to any damage observed on raised manholes.

Councillor Zahid Badroodien, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, stresses the collective effort needed to resolve this problem.

“Together we can work towards safeguarding infrastructure which performs a critical function and resolve this problem,” Badroodien emphasized.