Waterfall of sewage at centre

A weekly sewage spill dating back 13 years continues to be a huge headache for Mzamomhle’s Simunye Day Care Centre.

Manager Colleen Jooste said sewage ran below the centre, ending up in a  manhole on its premises.

Jooste said every few days an overflow occurred,  with raw sewage flowing  out of the manhole and either gathering  in the centre’s storm water drains or seeping on to the centre’s  grounds.

She said not only were she and her staff members fed up with the stench, but she was worried about the health risk to the centre’s children.

Jooste, who has been running the centre since February, said: “Some days that manhole lid comes off and the sewage looks like a waterfall.  You can see and smell the faeces.  We keep the children indoors on those days.  We also have a vegetable garden out at the back.  The worst part is seeing the pigs eating it .”

In a story  in the Dispatch in 2011, the then-centre manager said they had resorted to paying a private contractor to clean up the mess.

“But we don’t have that kind of money right now.  This is a charity organisation.  The staff members don’t even get a salary, they get a stipend,” Jooste said.

BCM spokesman Thandy Matebese said the metro was aware of the situation, adding that the only solution was for the centre to relocate.

The school was located at the lowest point of a sewerage network, just before a sewer line crossed to the  Gonubie  treatment works.  A manhole, adjacent to the centre, often became blocked, causing the sewer “to back up”. Refuse dumped illegally near the manhole contributed to blockages.

“We urge members of this community to play their role in resolving this matter as it is their actions that are affecting the lives of the children at the centre and of the entire community.”