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Sewage takes over Parktown North · Drive with John Perlman

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Drive home with John Perlman on 702. Let's walk the talk.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Well, as I said, we're going to be talking to
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: the South African Human Rights Commission. Their inquiry into water
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: and sanitation in Gauteng was released today. And as I said,
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: it's a very, very important document. It doesn't make for
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: great reading. If some of the recommendations, I suppose, are implemented,
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: then we might be headed on the right track. But
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: my goodness, the state of the problem is huge. Of course,
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: behind every aggregation of difficult situations is a personal story.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: And we thought we'd deal with one of those. And
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: welcome to the show. Somebody who many of you know well,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: author Robin Binks, who has been a resident of Johannesburg
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: for many, many years. Robin, welcome and thanks very much
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: for giving us your time. You wrote a letter to
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: the managing director of Joburg Water, Nsaveni Mokwebo. Before we
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: get into the problem, though, I just want to start
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: with the first sentences. First two sentences. of the letter
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: you wrote. And you say, I love Johannesburg as much
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: as anyone. It therefore pains me to watch and experience
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: the city deteriorating around me. Before we get into the
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: sewerage that's flooding your garden and has done so for months,
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: say something about a Joburg resident for decades now, somebody
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: who loves the city and what it feels like to
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: see it fall apart in the way you believe it is.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Good afternoon to you.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Good afternoon, John. So nice to be on the air
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: with you again. John, I can sum it up quite easily.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: I was away for a few weeks and I drove back,
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: arrived back at night and I caught an Uber back
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: home and it came around the south of Johannesburg. All
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: the lights were out. It was like driving into Armageddon
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: after visiting countries in Europe and around the world. I
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: suddenly realised how terrible, how terrible Johannesburg is. It is
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: full of potholes, it is full of uncared for parks,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: it is full of dirty swimming pools, it is full of,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: in my case, Sewage in my back garden, I hate
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: to say it.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Let's talk then. You live in the suburb of Parktown North.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: There's a broken sewer pipe beneath your house and others,
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: and the raw sewage is flowing into your garden. When
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: did this begin?
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Sorry to interrupt you, John. The broken sewage pipe is
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: not under my house. The broken sewage pipe is... On
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: the pavement, outside my property. Okay. All right.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: So we've got a clearer picture of the source of
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: the problem. When did it begin?
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: It began, I reported it the first time on the
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: 31st of July.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: Okay. So you reported it and your ward councillor got involved.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: And then you've had conversations with Johannesburg Water Law, Ultimately,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: in your frustration, you wrote to the most senior person
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: in the entity. But before that happened, what exactly did
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Johannesburg Waters say?
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: We had about three or four meetings, and each time
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: they promised me that within two weeks the problem would
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: be attended to. I never then heard again from them.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: In each occasion.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: Has anyone ever come to look at it and said, well, okay,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: if we did fix it, this is what needs doing?
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Because I realize it's a serious problem, but I would
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: assume it's not a hugely complicated one. It's a broken
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: pipe that needs fixing, or is it more complicated than that?
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: It's more complicated than that. The pipe, it was established
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: by a company that has a machine that sends a
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: camera up to assess where the breakage is. And the
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: depth was something like four and a half meters down,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: which means excavating an enormous hole, which they started to do.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: But after about three days, when it was at about
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: three meters, they suddenly filled it up and disappeared.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: So they dug the hole, they didn't get to the
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: source of the problem, they filled it up. What's your
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: understanding of what was going on? I mean, is this
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: someone just ostensibly filling a contract and arguably this could
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: be fraudulent? You say, yeah, we went there, we dug
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: it up and it's done and here's the invoice.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: It was left in a total mess. My pavement has
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: been dug up. The hole was not even filled in properly.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: We had to completely fill in the holes so that
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: we could access the garage for the car to get in.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: And they just abandoned the site. And when I phoned
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: the depot, I was told that it was a little
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: bit too deep. They're getting another machine and they'll be
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: back within two weeks. But that has gone on now
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: for three months, John.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a situation I can imagine because I have
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: similar experiences things going on in my neighborhood where holes
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: are dug and and there's no clear reason why and
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: there's certainly no work that actually follows that up you
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: in your letter to uh mr mcqueville say you've incurred
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: more than 25 000 rand in plumbing expenses and you
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: have further been quoted another 14 000 to try and john.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: You're breaking up i'm very sorry you're breaking up very.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Badly Can you hear me now? Okay, just a minute
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: before the news at 5-bit, we have Robin Binks back. Robin,
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: just a last question. How many other houses in your
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: neighborhood are affected by this problem?
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: Well, certainly our immediate neighbor is suffering from sewage spilling
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: over into her garden. The stench at times is unbearable.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: I don't know how many people are affected, but anybody
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: living within a couple of hundred yards. I would think so.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: And just finally, you've engaged with Joburg Water, you've written
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: to the man at the top. Have you had any response?
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: I've had absolutely no response. I'd like to just add
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: something and maybe I shouldn't, but I'm going to. Three
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: weeks ago, I was diagnosed with acute leukemia. I phoned
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: the depot manager, and told him, I said, please, this
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: means that it's terminal. I need this problem fixed urgently.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: He said he was very sorry to hear the news
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: and promised to be there in two weeks. I've never
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: heard another word.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Well, Robin, we wish you every strength in dealing with
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: this massive health challenge you face, and we hope that
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: in some way this problem can at least be escalated
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: and resolved. Robin Binks, author, joining us on the line
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: and telling a story that may be a familiar one
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: based on that Human Rights Commission report on the state
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: of wastewater management in the province of Gauteng would suggest
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: that there are communities all over Gauteng facing this kind
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: of problem. We thought we'd look at one individual instance
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: and its implications and, you know, use that to bring
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: some of the larger numbers to a much more personal
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: and much more understandable level. That interview coming your way
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: after five o'clock. It's five o'clock now.