East London water depot closed for Covid-19 cleanse

BCM's water & sanitation depot in East London was closed on Tuesday after a worker tested positive for Covid-19.

Spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said about 126 employees from the depot were screened and tested for the virus on Tuesday, and the depot was closed for disinfection.

Ngwenya said the municipality could not confirm cases of employees testing positive as they were not authorised to comment on this.

However, sources among the workers told the Dispatch a colleague was infected.

Another source said the workforce had been sent home.

“The person was in quite bad shape. All 280 employees were sent home. The problem is the workers meet a lot of people that they come into contact with when providing services.”

When DispatchLIVE visited the depot in Chiselhurst on Tuesday, a message on the closed gate read: “No unauthorised entry. Chiselhurst depot official closed until further notice due to suspect Covid-19. As per management.”

Meanwhile, a Mdantsane resident in NU8, Awonke Ngose, said his family had reported a burst pipe in their yard more than five times since last week.

“We watched municipality bakkies passing by here every day, but we were told on all these occasions that people will be sent to fix the leak.

“There is also a sewage leak that dates back two and a half years that has not been fixed,” Ngose said.

“This [water] is damaging the walls. And thousands of litres have gone to waste while there is drought.

“The municipality doesn’t care about its resources,” he said.

Provincial health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said he was unable to comment on individual patients.

Ngwenya said BCM employees were on the front line in the fight against the virus.

“As a result, we have provided our employees with personal protective equipment which includes masks, gloves and sanitisers, and also disinfected all BCM offices during lockdown level 5 and before employees resumed their duties for level 4,” he said.

“We also follow procedures like closing premises, disinfecting the place and assisting the department in protocols like isolation, tracking and testing.”

He said the municipality had no record of the Mdantsane water leak.

“We take water leaks and water bursts very seriously in light of the city’s water situation.

“We will send a team over to investigate and resolve the matter.”