Cape Town - The owners of Avanti Farm in Dassenberg have been left frustrated, claiming the City has failed to attend to sewage water that has been flowing onto their property since 2020.
Residents said the soil on the farm, near Witzands, which specialises in producing roll-on lawn, had been damaged by the leak.
Helouise Williams-Beetge said this state of affairs not only posed a threat to their livelihoods, but also to the well-being of their workers, who were concerned they may develop health problems in the future.
“My husband and I rebuilt our business on the property during Covid-19 due to retrenchments and unemployment.
This week we have officially been informed that the water is, in fact, contaminated, as sewage has leaked into it.
“There seems to be no remorse over the contamination of agricultural property and underground water sources,” said Williams-Beetge.
She said that to date no officials or city workers had been sent to conduct a site inspection to assess the damage to their property.
“The only action they took was erecting a sign along the road In 2021 to caution the public about the water. As far as I’m aware, there have been talks to find a solution to the problem, but they have given us no time frame. I also don’t understand why they are taking so long to fix this,” said Williams-Beetge.
The City’s mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, said various teams in the City’s directorates had attended to the matter.
“The issue of an overflowing stormwater pond in Witzands on to a private property or farm was discussed in a physical and an online meeting during the months of July and August. Witzands stormwater pond constantly receives contaminated water.”
He said the unit started its investigations on Monday, and they are expected to span about two weeks.
“The survey that will be conducted in the area will be to identify sewer overflows and areas where grey water has been discharged into the stormwater system from informal settlements. When this has been done, the identified matters will be taken further to relevant teams.”
Cape Times