INLSA
Workers from the eThekwini municipality begin repair work on sewerage pipes, near Parlock, damaged this week by people sifting through the effluent looking for treasure .Photo: Lauren Rawlins
Durban – People desperate for any item of value they can find to sell are smashing open Durban’s sewerage pipes and sifting through the sewage in the mistaken belief that there might be “treasure” inside.
In the most recent incident this week, Bart Fokkens of the Duzi uMngeni Conservation Trust was clearing up the trail for the coming Dusi-To-Sea cycling race when he discovered sewage pouring from the pipes and seeping through to the uMgeni River in Parlock, near Newlands West.
The city has now declared the river unsafe for swimming but said the sea was unaffected even though some sewage would have been washed out of the river mouth near Durban’s Golden Mile.
“When I went to investigate, I saw the pipes had been vandalised and I contacted the municipality, which responded immediately,” said Fokkens.
City employees had their hands full on Thursday, starting the repair work and pumping the sewage into another manhole to prevent pollution and harm to those living in the area.
Neil Macleod, head of water and sanitation for the municipality, said it was “impossible” to have security guards permanently monitoring the pipes because there were too many.
It would take days, if not weeks, to repair the damaged pipe, Macleod said. He said the city was forced to fix the pipes again and again as they were targeted at least once a week.
“Last week a pipe was destroyed in Chatsworth. And the same thing happened two weeks back in Phoenix. It is obviously a gang and we will catch them.
“We are trying to find a contractor at the moment (to assist with repairing the pipe in Parlock),” said Macleod.
He said the municipality was relying on the community to inform it if they saw people who weren’t dressed in metro uniforms “working” on the sewerage pipes.
“The gangs are looking for any items that are dropped down the sink or accidentally flushed down the toilet.
“If you dropped money, diamonds or gold, they will destroy the pipes, searching for these items,” he said.
The vandals apparently arrive in big numbers, remove the concrete slabs on top of the pipes and then bash them open with hammers.
They then use spades to scoop out the dirt and “take their time” to find any precious items. The Mercury understands the city is planning to use heavy concrete slabs in future that can only be
lifted by heavy machinery.
lungelo.mkamba@inl.co.za
The Mercury
