DA oversight reveals all four sewerage plants in Ladysmith are still non-functional

13 December 2022

A recent oversight visit by the DA in uThukela to all four sewerage plants in Ladysmith has revealed that they are still non-functional five months after the Municipal Manager, Bongani Mnguni had committed to refurbishing them.

In June this year, DA uThukela Constituency Head, Alf Lees, MP and Councillor Thys Janse van Rensburg visited sewerage infrastructure in Ladysmith, after receiving complaints of raw sewerage pushing into resident’s homes and yards.

The oversight visits revealed the sad state of infrastructure in Ladysmith. All four sewerage plants visited, (the Leonardsville, Birdcage,Reicher and Carbineer Pump Stations) revealed a total collapse of infrastructure and functionality.

The decay has been ongoing for years as the overgrown access roads attested to. Raw sewage was running through broken plants directly into the Klipriver, and onto the Tugela for Communities downstream and in coastal areas to deal with.

The DA wrote to the MM, not only sighting the right to dignity and a safe and clean environment, but also sighting the legal ramifications that comes when an institution breaks the law so blatantly.

The MM responded and sighted plans to bring infrastructure up to code. The DA therefore did a follow-up oversight visit on Tuesday, 6 December 2022. Our findings revealed that little has been done in the past five months by the IFP in uThukela as raw sewage continues to flow unabated into the Klipriver and Tugela.

The Leonardsville Pump Station is of great concern as it does not have a natural outflow, sewage is culminating and backing up into the lower lying parts of Ladysmith and causing daily blockages in both residential and commercial areas of the town.

The DA in uThukela is looking at criminal prosecution, and the Green Scorpions as the next reasonable step.

Statement issued by Councillor Thys Janse van Rensburg - DA uThukela Chairperson, 13 December 2022