Msunduzi municipality under fire over failing sewage infrastructure

The beleaguered Msunduzi municipality in KwaZulu-Natal says it is doing everything it can to fix failing sewerage infrastructure causing pollution in the Msunduzi River, Umgeni River and Inanda Dam.

According to a non-profit public benefit organisation, the Duzi-uMngeni Conservation Trust (Duct), however, the municipality is not acting fast enough to address invasive water hyacinth at Inanda Dam and the dismal state of the rivers.

Duct’s Sithembiso Sangweni said the municipality has failed to upgrade its sewerage system infrastructure since the early 1970s.

“There is no servicing of the infrastructure, hence it's failing. Too many people are using the same sewerage system, which is not coping. Unfortunately the system was designed to run along the banks of the Msunduzi River. If there are any spillages, everything goes straight to the river. Inanda Dam is at the end of the pipe and everything goes to the dam,” said Sangweni. 

He said this resulted in an increase in E.coli levels. 

Nokuthula Mthembu, head of the resorts management company Msinsi Holdings, confirmed the municipality’s failure to address the sewage problem had affected the rivers and the dam. Msinsi's properties, including at Inanda Dam, were among those affected.

The municipality’s deputy mayor, Mxolisi Mkhize, said they were aware of the spillages and the impact this was having on the environment. 

He said the city was in the process of addressing the Darvill outfall sewer, which is the final section of the sewer that drains the city of Msunduzi to the wastewater plant. However, there were chronic issues of malfunction and the plant had been on the brink of collapse for several years. 

“We are dealing with the issue of disrooting [the water hyacinths] and cleaning the river. We have big plans in terms of maintaining the environment within the Msunduzi River.

“This is mainly because we understand the failure to look after the Msunduzi River has a serious impact on residents, not only from Pietermaritzburg but also from eThekwini. We understand spillages from our side go downstream to Durban. We are doing our best to address this issue,” said Mkhize. 

He said recently there had been spillages as a result of floods that hit the city. He said the floods had worsened the issue and the municipality was working around a tight budget to address the problem.

Mkhize said they could not continue blaming ageing infrastructure without moving to address the problem. In their current budget, they decided to prioritise water and sanitation by changing old pipes.

During a meeting at Inanda Dam last week, affected stakeholders called on authorities to stamp out the water hyacinth invasion which has led to events being cancelled and affected water quality.

In June, Umgeni Water estimated 30% of the upper part of Inanda Dam was covered with water hyacinth.

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