The City of Cape Town is appealing to residents not to dump objects into the city’s stormwater infrastructure after a maintenance team found a lawnmower in a manhole in Goodwood.

Following recurring stormwater overflows in Goodwood, a maintenance team from Transport for Cape Town’s Roads and Stormwater Department investigated a manhole situated on the corner of Vasco Boulevard and Frans Conradie Drive earlier this month.

The officials were shocked to find a whole lawnmover stuck in the stormwater drain, blocking the flow and causing the drain to overflow.

“This find underscores the importance of the City’s illegal dumping campaign that was recently launched by Mayor De Lille which highlights and educates residents about illegal dumping as well as the improper disposal of inappropriate objects into the City’s stormwater and sewer pipelines.

“We need residents to work with us to ensure the proper function of our infrastructure,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member: Transport for Cape Town, Councillor Brett Herron.

Clean up work eating city’s budget for maintenance and repairs

The City’s stormwater network is pivotal to prevent the flooding of houses and structures, as well as the flooding of roads. In addition, whatever is dumped into the stormwater network ends up in canals, rivers and streams, negatively affecting the natural environment and our efforts to maintain our water quality.

According to Herron, approximately 40% of the City’s underground pipe and culvert network is older than 50 years and to replace the stormwater management infrastructure would cost at least R13 billion.

“Due to budget constraints, however, the City can only spend up to R60 million per annum on upgrades and rehabilitation.

“Another R85 million is available for repairs and maintenance, but up to 90% of this budget is spent on cleaning mainly due to illegal dumping, grey and black water, sewer discharges and litter landing up in our stormwater system,” he explained.

“Given our budget and manpower, the City is doing all it can to ensure that our roads do not flood during the winter months and that we manage our stormwater system in such a way that our water sources are not polluted and our water quality is not compromised,” Herron concluded.