The fallout over Buffalo City’s ailing infrastructure has reached Gonubie beach, which is still closed due to two extensive sewage spills.A large manhole hidden in the undergrowth and a second on a raised embankment along the river have been oozing chunky grey effluent into the sand since January 8 and the leaks have yet to be fixed.
Several roads and beaches along the Eastern Cape coastline had to be shut on Saturday when a storm surge associated with an unusual spring tide saw seawater streaming into seaside areas and parking lots, leaving a trail of destruction. Affected areas in the Eastern Cape included Gonubie in East London, Hamburg in Peddie, Port Alfred, Kenton-on-Sea, Gqeberha and Jeffreys Bay.
The demolition of an abandoned municipal building in Gonubie has proved divisive, with some residents saying it was still in good condition, while others thanked the city for removing a “den of criminals and drug addicts”.
Rolling blackouts and the vandalism of sewer pump stations in East London are causing major sewage spillages that are polluting the city’s beaches and rivers.
One of the last clean rivers in the Buffalo City Metro has been choking under raw effluent. The Gonubie River has had sewage spewing into its estuary from a pipe alongside the Tidewaters picnic site since Friday as pump stations overflow due to load-shedding. BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said: “With the back-to-back severe load-shedding that we are experiencing, we are bound to be getting these types of challenges, but we are not folding our arms.