Durban – eThekwini Municipality is proposing to install CCTV cameras on some of its sanitation infrastructure to curb vandalism.
Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda says the city needs to take action to protect this infrastructure. He was speaking on plans by the city to address recent challenges related to the provision and maintenance of sewer infrastructure.
“There was a spate of vandalism to our sewage pump stations resulting in raw sewage ending up in our fresh and sea water.
“Constant load shedding made matters worse because for these facilities to function, they largely depend on electricity.
“Our interventions in this regard include the procurement of generators in the event of load shedding. We will also be looking into preventing vandalism by installing CCTV cameras that will enable our security personnel to respond with speed in the event of any signs of tampering with our infrastructure,” said Kaunda.
He said the city was also prioritising the replacement of ageing infrastructure. It was optimistic that the implementation of these interventions would stop the incidents of raw sewage polluting water resources.
“We continue to have incidents of sewer manhole blockages, and in response, we have issued a clear directive that the turnaround time to unblock these manholes must be 24 hours.
“This is going to be complemented by an aggressive communication campaign to educate the public not to dispose of foreign objects into our system,” he said.
He said in all informal settlements within the city, they will continue to work to restore the dignity of residents by ensuring that they have access to basic services including communal ablution facilities.
“Following complaints from members of the community about the vulnerability of these facilities which are in the form of containers, the city has resolved to build brick-and-mortar structures at the cost of R450m over the next three years.
“Our water and sanitation teams will also embark on an intensive educational campaign to create a sense of ownership of these facilities to prevent vandalism and theft,” said Kaunda.