City of Cape Town spent R1 million in five months and tackled the sewer blockages of Wesbank. Almost, 700 sewer-related service requests were logged in Wesbank in one year, between Jan 2024 and Jan 2025.
Reportedly, the Data was collected more than the past 39 months that further indicated that 69% of these incidents were caused by foreign objects that were illegally dumped or incorrectly disposed of into the sewer network.
The Water and Sanitation Directorate of the City of Cape Town held a public meeting in Wesbank on Tuesday, Feb 25, 2025 to engage residents on the ongoing sewer blockages and overflows which affected the area.
Since Oct 2024, the City of Cape Town spent almost R1 million addressing the sewer-related problems in Wesbank alone. The operational teams who worked in the area were also confronted with additional challenges, while attending to service requests.
Burning of tyres and cables over manhole covers has made them brittle, that led them to breaking under the weight of car traffic, this then resulted in open and exposed manholes. Items such as car tyres, vehicle dashboards, dead animals, concrete blocks, large stones, rags and sandbags that were found within the open manholes, causing severe and recurring blockages. This financial impact of attending these issues is substantial.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Water and Sanitation – Councillor Zahid Badroodien said that the Wesbank sewer pump station has suffered damage due to foreign objects and rubble entering the system, which have clogged inlets and damaged mechanical equipment.
Badroodien ensured that all of the efforts are properly functioning, or the sewer system will be in vain, if communities do not work with them by using the infrastructure correctly.
As per the sources, Ward-19 in Wesbank has been earmarked to have 8400m of sewer pipes that were replaced in future. Implementation of the critical upgrades were delayed due to safety risks for contractors.
In an effort to raise awareness about the challenges, various community engagement initiatives were undertaken including school visits, door-to-door awareness campaigns and outreached at shopping centres.
During these one-on-one engagements, the information is shared to educate the residents on the dangers of misusing the sewer system and the long-term consequences of vandalism and illegal dumping.