Angry Athlone residents are demanding answers from the City of Cape Town after officials were allegedly caught dumping raw sewage into a canal last week.
After weeks of complaints about blocked drains and the filthy water flowing into the streets, Parktown residents say they noticed an influx of City trucks in the area.
Concerned mom Aqeelah Abrahams says after noticing an increase in flies and the stench, they approached council workers to see what they were doing.
“I have seen trucks coming in and we thought they’re coming to clean out the drains, but something wasn’t right because the drains stayed blocked.”
She says on Wednesday morning she saw the truck on a veldjie in Bosduif Road.
“I was horrified to see they were pumping the sh!t straight into the water canal.
“It was horrible to see the faeces just flowing and I wanted to know where this sh!t comes from and why are they pumping it out here.
“I am sure they are not allowed to do this because they pump it into our drains.”
The City confirmed that Mayco member for Water and Waste Xanthea Limberg was informed and the matter investigated.
“It was found that no sewage was intentionally pumped into the river. What occurred in this instance is that an over pumping system, which was set up to bypass a collapsed sewer on this road, came loose from the manhole due to high pressure, and began discharging into the stormwater system and neighbouring watercourse.
“The matter has been rectified and the pumping rate will be monitored to avoid further occurrences.”
But Aqeelah says officials are liegbekke: “How are they going to argue with video evidence of their officials doing this? They are lying, they know we caught them.”