The eThekwini Municipality has apologised to residents, businesses and tourists affected by an ongoing sewer overflow crisis linked to technical failures at the Mahatma Gandhi Pump Station in Durban’s CBD.Addressing the media on Monday, Executive Director of Technical Services, Ednick Msweli, said the overflow along Margaret Mncadi Avenue was caused by severe electrical and mechanical failures at the station.
Msweli revealed that the station had already been operating under pressure, with only two of its four designed pumps functional before the latest breakdowns. One pump was still undergoing emergency repairs and had not been fully commissioned.He urged citizens stop puting foreign objects they cause damaged critical screening equipment and clogged pumps, crippling normal sewer operations.
The municipality installed a replacement pump on 10 May in an effort to stabilise operations, but another failure occurred shortly afterwards. In response, the City accelerated the commissioning of an additional pump on 11 May despite ongoing project risks.
To protect public health, the municipality has temporarily closed Bay of Plenty, North Beach and Battery Beach while water quality monitoring and clean-up operations continue.Msweli said sanitation teams, engineers and specialist technicians remain on site around the clock to restore full pumping capacity.
He added that medium and long-term infrastructure upgrades are now being prioritised to prevent similar incidents in future, including replacing ageing equipment and strengthening maintenance systems.
Email: motshwari@onenews.co.za
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