The residents want the issue of the stench solved now, as it has been affecting them for many months.
The Bushbuckridge local municipality has promised to look at the issue of sewer flowing straight into community dwellings, according to reports.
The Bushbuckridge News reports that people in the area of Saselani’s Dwarsloop Phase 1 have been living with the awful smell for over a year now and the municipality has not been taking their concerns seriously.
The leaking sewerage that runs from the Dwarsloop area towards the bridge affects two communities.
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“We were not aware of this burst sewerage pipe,” spokesman Aubrey Mnisi told the local newspaper.
“And since it has been reported now we will investigate the matter as an emergency and make sure that it is repaired as soon as possible,” said Mnisi.
He said the municipality is not going to allow a situation “where sewerage is spilling all over”.
“So we will ensure that it is fixed within a period of three days, which will also depend on the amount of work that needs to be done,” he said.
People who pass by the bridge everyday say the smell of raw sewer is really bad.
They say that they have reported the matter on more than two occasions to the municipality and nothing was done by officials.
It was reported last year that all of Mpumalanga’s waste water treatment plants are leaking and are polluting fresh water sources, while officials were doing nothing to attend to the problem.
This has caused, especially in Gert Sibande, raw sewer to find its way to wetlands and the Vaal River, a national river that starts in the Ermelo and Standerton area and goes on to supply millions of Gauteng households.
(edited NN)
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