Durban - A sewage leak into the harbour from a Bluff canal is the latest in a series of environmental challenges facing the area, residents say.
The area near the Amanzimnyama Canal, which leads under Edwin Swales Drive to the harbour, the scene of an oil spill at the weekend, was hit by a second spill on Wednesday.
The oil spill had been cleaned up and an investigation into the party responsible for the mess - headed up by the eThekwini Municipality - was continuing.
Chairman of the Bluff Ratepayers’ Association, Ivor Aylward, said that residents had noticed the smell on Wednesday morning.
“It’s absolutely disgusting. These kinds of mishaps happen way too often. The sewage is one thing, but we find so much other waste in the form of garbage in the water too,” he said.
He said that residents in the area often found used nappies, discarded condoms and dead animals floating in the water ways.
The stench had also become unbearable.
He said that finding the culprits would be a challenge, as the waste could have come from anywhere.
“We are relying on the city to make sure that the people responsible for this mess are brought to book. We need to send a message that this kind of thing will not be tolerated.”
Desmond D’Sa, co-ordinator of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, said that the spill, which had been comparatively small, had been contained and cleaned within a matter of hours.
He said that incidents like this one happened “too frequently”.
“We see it here almost weekly. It’s obvious that the municipality’s infrastructure is ageing and in need of refurbishment,” D’Sa said.
“Instead of spending money on unnecessary things like the Commonwealth Games, they should rather invest the money so that the community and environment no longer has to suffer with this.”
He said that the environmental impact could not be measured, and that the clean-up, though timeous, would make no difference if the issue of leaks was not properly dealt with.
Comment from the eThekwini Municipality had not been forthcoming by deadline.
Daily News