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Buffalo City Municipality has warned beachgoers to avoid Bonza Bay and Nahoon Beaches following sewage spillages at both beaches.
In a lengthy statement on Wednesday, Buffalo City said its Amenities Section took the decision to close both beaches based on the advice from the Water and Sanitation Department.
“Water samples have been taken and they are being tested. The Municipality will have to undertake a two-day clear water sampling before reopening the beach for recreational swimming,” BCM said.
Buffalo City Municipality said it was implementing a number of interventions to prevent sewerage spills.
“One of the main challenges is aging, the vandalism of our infrastructure, and littering of foreign objects in our sewer system. This happens mainly in townships that connect with our beaches via streams,” said spokesperson, Samnkelo Ngwenya.
He said the Municipality had identified “problematic areas” leading to spillages, including the Cambridge Location spill which was the result of the malfunctioning pump station due to illegal electricity connections to a transformer.
“The municipality has since built a concrete vault to house the transformer, which has stopped illegal connections. The pump station has been operational since September 2021.”
Ngwenya said the “sewage overflows from Nompumelelo Township are primarily as a result of informal settlements built over municipal sewer pipelines.”
He said the permanent solution to the challenge is the relocation of the informal settlements.
A third problem area was the sewage overflows on the Nahoon Outfall Sewer which is caused by the insufficient capacity of the current pipeline along the Nahoon River.
“This results in sewage spillages in some areas during extreme peak periods, and during wet weather conditions. The municipality has appointed a firm of consulting engineers to commence with investigations, designs, and construction monitoring of upgrading of the outfall sewer,” Ngwenya said.
He said given the required investigations and designs for challenging terrain, and required environmental authorisations, it is likely that the full upgrading of the pipeline may take a period between two to four years.
