Durban launches R10 million festive season plan to safeguard beach water quality

A ten-million rand festive season action plan to deal with municipal sewer pump stations affecting beaches has been sent to area managers for immediate implementation.

The municipality’s network operational plan was explained at an executive committee meeting on Tuesday.  The city stated that its operational budget estimation commenced on December 1 and will end on February 28, 2026, to cover tankering, winching, jetting, rodding, and sump cleaning. This will also address diesel refilling, silt removal, and screening removal stated in a report by the eThekwini Water and Sanitation Operations for the festive season.

With regard to beachfront sewer lines, acting director of the Water and Sanitation Unit, Sibusiso Vilane said the municipality will flush them twice a week as a proactive maintenance. 

Vilane said the municipality also identified hotspot areas surrounding restaurants, for example, Umhlanga, Florida Road, and Amanzimtoti main beach. 

He said there would also be 24-hour monitoring of critical pump stations the area manager will manage.

Also, Vilane stated that standby tankers must be arranged or procured for use as required in emergencies. He added that sufficient staff will be available during the holiday season, with limited leave approvals. 

“Procurement of chlorine chemicals to mitigate E. coli must be managed and controlled before the festive season. The area manager must manage overtime. We will ensure that security at critical pump stations will be in place before the festive season,” he said. 

He said that five contractors will be hired during the festive season to undertake winching, a process to clear sand and debris out of the pipeline, to ensure trunk mains flow freely.

In addition, two external jetting contractors per area will be engaged to address backlogs and escalations until January 31, 2026. The municipality has also devised a plan for area-by-area deployment of jetting machines to address hotspots, while proactive jetting will continue throughout the period.

About the tankering operation, Vilane said one external tankering contractor per area will be engaged to address tankering issues related to the sewer networks and pump stations.

“The deployment of sanitation tankers known as honey suckers will be as and when required to ensure minimum pollution and a clean environment. Proactive tankering will be ongoing for the duration,” he said. 

Vilane said a screening removal program is to be implemented regularly for all pump stations 

The sump cleaning program must be implemented according to the planned program and maintained for the festive season. He said that one external contractor per area will be engaged to ensure sumps are regularly cleaned.

“Daily monitoring and record-keeping must be implemented and maintained for the entire festive period, and a spreadsheet containing a log is to be submitted to the senior manager weekly,” he said. 

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za