Maiden’s Cove and Glen Beach in Camps Bay have been closed temporarily due to a collapsed collector sewer causing an overflow onto the beach.
Related Articles:
Muizenberg beachgoers urged to avoid swimming near Zandvlei stormwater pipes
Zeekoevlei closed due to sewage spills
The City of Cape Town said that various departments are responding to the incident, including collecting samples to confirm if there was any risk to the public.
A suction tanker was also commissioned to reduce the overflow and contain the spillage in preparation for repairs.
Byron Herbert, a resident of Camps Bay, told the Cape Argus that Camps Bay has a long history of untreated sewage being pumped into the bay.
“When I was part of the Camps Bay & Clifton Ratepayers’ Association, all we asked the City to do was to acknowledge that pumping untreated sewage into the sea was not an acceptable practice.”
He said even though the Marine Outfall Point (MOP) has been in operation since the early 1970’s, it does not make it acceptable.
“The negative effects have significantly increased since the pump station was first commissioned, as a result of the increase in the need to process and pump the human waste of an increasingly popular area, with everything ’flushed’ from Clifton through Camps Bay to Bakoven,” Herbert said.