“We cannot confirm if the balls are human waste until after the laboratory investigation,” she said. “We caution media against reporting on unverified information.
“The city has always been transparent about issues relating to beach water quality, hence an investigation is under way to trace the source of the ‘balls’ and get to the bottom of the matter.”
Meanwhile, the city is also conducting an “extensive investigation” to find the source of discharge of sewage effluent along the uMngeni Estuary in the CBD.
“Once the investigation is complete, the City will undertake repairs to any damaged infrastructure that may have resulted in the discharge of untreated effluent into the uMngeni Estuary.”
The municipality has banned recreational and fishing activities from uMngeni Estuary to the Blue Lagoon non-bathing beach, as per the directive from the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment in accordance with the Coastal Compliance Notice.
Sisilana said the infrastructure failure was a result of constant theft and vandalism of the city’s sewer infrastructure and illegal connections to the sewer system. These, she said, are the main contributing factors to pollution and E coli, particularly in estuaries and beaches.
“The city is making every effort to attend to all infrastructural defects that may pose a risk to the environment and urges the public to report vandalism and the theft of infrastructure to police so that perpetrators are apprehended.
“Fishermen are urged to adhere to the fishing restriction at the uMngeni Estuary and Blue Lagoon until further notice while the investigation is under way.”
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