Progress at last on Khayelitsha sewer line repairs

Excavations are underway in the Lansdowne informal settlement to repair the bulk sewer line in Khayelitsha. Photos: Vincent Lali

The City of Cape Town says repairs to a bulk sewer line in Khayelitsha will be completed within a month.

Between October and December last year, shacks in SST informal settlement in Town Two and Lansdowne Road informal settlement in Makhaza were swallowed by sinkholes that opened up when the underground pipe collapsed. Manholes overflowed and raw sewage spilled into the streets.

To access the pipeline, the City relocated dozens of families living in shacks above it. They were moved temporarily to zinc structures in Green Point, Khayelitsha, near an Eskom substation.

While repairs are underway, the City has installed a 400mm high-density polyethene pipe spanning about two kilometres to bypass the collapsed sewer line.

Work is underway in Makhaza to excavate and fix the collapsed pipes before the end of the month. In SST informal settlement, a contractor is expected to be appointed by mid-April to begin repairs.

Sewer pipe collapses have caused sinkholes under shacks in the SST informal settlement.

Meanwhile hazards remain, with existing sinkholes left uncovered and new ones opening up in SST.

Thumeka Hoza, who stays in SST with her four children, said a sinkhole appeared under her shack and in her yard two weeks ago. The hole emits a foul stench, she said, and has been getting wider, reaching to her children’s room.

At the relocation site in Green Point, families complain that there is no electricity. People have been returning to the informal settlements to charge phones and electric lamps, said resident Mzikazi Twani.

Eskom has raised concerns about the relocation site next to its substation.

“The structures that are close to the gate and fence are posing a risk to the substation and blocking entrance/exit to the substation,” said Eskom spokesperson Zanele Bukani.

He said the structures have been erected on top of underground cables, and residents are littering, creating a fire risk.

“We would like the structures to be removed as soon as possible,” he said.

A City of Cape Town said “the City is investigating and is engaging with Eskom regarding the concerns raised”.

No constraints were identified when the temporary relocation was planned, the City said.

Mzikazi Twani walks between the temporary relocation units built by the City of Cape Town next to the Eskom substation in Green Point, Khayelitsha.

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