Mayor Geordin-Hill Lewis visited Vrygrond on Thursday 5 May as part of the City’s winter readiness programme.
Part of the programme will see the City’s sanitation teams jet clean 100 kilometres of pipes in the most flood-prone areas of the city while stormwater drains, ponds, canals and gullies are expected to be cleaned by teams from urban mobility.
Carol Michaels, a resident from Vrygrond, told the mayor that the drains are often blocked in the area.
“What happens is when the rubbish truck comes, they pick up the rubbish and when some of it ends up on the ground they don’t pick it back up. They leave it in the road.”
Michaels added that they also struggle with the water pressure where they live.
“Sometimes we don’t have water, like on Saturday and Sunday there was no water.
“Saturday, Sunday’s and on holidays there is no water. We can’t even use the toilet because there is no water to flush.”
James Booi, another Vrygrond resident, said the stormwater drains were blocked every month.
“The City is trying, but they come and clean the drain and it is just costing taxpayers money because a tender is given to a private company who must do it this month, then next month and the next. Instead of looking at their budget for bigger drains for more capacity, so it’s a waste of money.”
He added that the sewage system was not meant for such a large number of people.
“If you look at the design of Vrygrond, it was meant for 1 600 families, but it’s now more than 40 000 people living in the area. If you visit here, you will see each and every household consists of 10 shacks.
“So, this design is no longer good to carry the capacity of Vrygrond community as a whole and there are also foreigners that live here. There is cheap rent in Vrygrond and you will see people building here.”
Residents who noticed blocked drains and those who had issues with water pressure were encouraged to lodge complaints with the City.
Hill-Lewis said over the long term, significant investment will be made on water and sanitation infrastructure with R1,6 billion this coming financial year alone, which includes R406 million for the replacement of the Cape Flats main sewer.
“I inspected the work of jet vacuum trucks to remove roots, litter, sand and other obstacles that cause blockages in the sewer system. Sewer jetting is a key part of preparing the wastewater system for the rainy winter months and mitigate the impact of sewer overflows caused by flooding.”
Hill-Lewis added that R10 million has been allocated for increasing beds at shelters during this winter.
“We have a winter readiness programme for persons living on the streets. This winter R10 million will go directly to increasing beds at NGO-run shelters through the winter.
“We ask residents to also do their part by protecting stormwater infrastructure and by being aware of the risks of building structures below the winter flood lines,” said Hill-Lewis.
