“At this stage, I fear I have long lost confidence in Knysna Municipality’s willingness or interest in resolving this matter.”
So says an email from very frustrated Groenvallei resident Tess Gouws, cc’d to numerous municipal staff departments, as well as Municipal Manager Lulamile Mapholoba.

She is referring to the ongoing sewage nightmare the residents of her neighbourhood are being subjected to, and the municipality’s seeming lack of an effective long term solution.

Despite being reported 120 days ago, the pump station on Lake Pleasant Drive is still out of action, and regularly spewing sewage into the surrounding area. The stink when residents step outside their homes is oftentimes unbearable, and there is always the fear of disease from the noxious pools that sit in close proximity.

Despite a number of site visits by members of the municipality’s technical team, and regular claims that the problem has been fixed (as reported in The EDGE a few months ago), it appears that success in sorting out the stinky problem has been rather short-lived.

Meanwhile, the Municipal ‘Honey Sucker’ tanker continues to drive in and out of the neighbourhood, removing as much of the noxious over-flow as possible. According to residents, this is not alleviating the horrendous smell for any length of time. Furthermore, as it drives to and fro along Fraser Street, it’s contents tend to drip out onto the tar.

A more recent attempt to solve the smelly dilemma has seemingly backfired, adding fuel to the residents’ collective frustration. As the email from Gouws explains “It appears that the (latest) response to the continual spillage of raw human waste into a residential area has been to redirect the steadily flowing sewage away from the forming dam on Lake Pleasant Road, and into Groenvlei Lake, a freshwater body.”

This news has caused an outcry. The erf on the eastern side of the fence, onto which the sewage has been directed via channels dug in the surrounding land, belongs to Lake Pleasant Resort. According to owner Stuart Lidstone, the land sits on the primary aquifer which directly feeds into Groenvlei Lake.

Groenvlei is a designated RAMSAR protected water site, under the custodianship of CapeNature. According to their communication department “CapeNature is aware of the situation with the pump stations and has taken several interventions to resolve the matter.”

Gouws continues in her email “It also appears that the Municipality has no intention of monitoring this situation pro-actively, instead relying on residents and the general public to attempt – repeatedly, and in vain – to hold officials accountable for commitments that have been made and then broken.

“This ‘solution’ of simply diverting the contamination elsewhere reflects an ‘out of sight, out of mind,’ approach, and an assumption that residents will eventually stop asking for accountability.”

“If we are to expect any response, please let it be action – rather than further empty promises,” it concludes.

Councillor Levael Davis points out that this is only one of Sedgefield’s sewage woes, saying that as his own requests for information and action are not garnering any answers from the relevant directors he is trying to get their attention, and indeed action, by different means. “To date I’ve sent requests, pictures, videos and had site visits to the affected areas with senior officials,”the frustrated councillor told us.
“The pumps at Island Village and Lake Pleasant have still not been repaired. Honeysuckers are extracting sewerage daily, but this causes other infrastructure problems, escalates costs, and could delay the service timelines to general residents.”
“The (Smutsville) Onderstegaaitjie pump station also regularly overflows causing an immediate health threat to surrounding houses, and there is a number of streets in Smutsville regularly experiencing sewer overflow with no lasting solutions.”

He too fears the persistent pump failure at Lake Pleasant could have serious repercussions on the sensitive environmental ecosystem of Groenvlei, as well as being a huge danger to the carp-netting programme which feeds many poor households in the area.

“he municipality must ensure that these critical issues are addressed and I’m hoping that the petition will result in seeing some improvements. Thanks to residents for their support. If necessary they may contact me via call or WhatsApp 0609987136 and I will send the petition link.”
When the Municipality was contacted for comment, Water and Sewer Manager, Rhoydon Parry offered the following statement.“acuum trucks are currently servicing these pump stations. We will be appointing a service provider as soon as possible to carry out the necessary pump repairs. A new deviation will be prepared, as the initial emergency contractor was found to be non-compliant with certain supply chain documentation requirements. In the interim, we will also advertise a Request for Quotation (RFQ) to secure additional assistance.”