Mogale City mayor says they need money to fix dysfunctional sewer pump stations

JOHANNESBURG - The Mogale City municipality says it needs money to fix its dysfunctional sewer pump stations which have been leaking raw sewage into its rivers.

The municipality said only 12 out of its 24 stations were fully functional.

The severity of the situation has reached President Cyril Ramaphosa, who recently called for urgent solutions.

In an interview with Eyewitness News on Monday, the newly elected mayor of Mogale City said this was one of his main priorities.

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Over the past few years, the national Department of Water and Sanitation has allocated hundreds of millions of rands in conditional grants to Mogale City to fix its infrastructure.

Municipal Mayor Lucky Sele said previous administrations had not had the foresight to channel this money towards the upgrading and maintenance of its sewer pump stations.

“No one wants to stay at a place that has sewer spiralling all over the place, our state of conservation is being threatened, our status as a world heritage site, so in the immediate, a multidisciplinary programme has been submitted to ensure we fix and maintain the sewer pumps stations that are also threatened by vandalism from zama zamas and criminals so we need police to also help us to ensure we guard and protect the infrastructure we have in our city.”

Sele said the municipality would need outside resources, whether it was money, expertise or manpower to solve this issue.