Emergency repairs are ongoing at the Mahatma Gandhi Pump Station in Durban following a major sewer overflow that has led to the temporary closure of several beaches.
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The eThekwini Municipality says emergency repair work is continuing at the Mahatma Gandhi Pump Station after technical failures triggered major sewer overflows along Margaret Mncadi Avenue, forcing the temporary closure of several central Durban beaches.
Addressing the media on Monday, Ednick Msweli, Executive Director of Technical Services at eThekwini Municipality, apologised to residents, businesses, commuters, and visitors affected by the incident.
“On behalf of eThekwini Municipality, I wish to sincerely apologise to our various stakeholders, including residents, businesses, commuters, and visitors for the inconvenience and distress caused by the sewer overflows at Margaret Mncadi Avenue,” Msweli said.
“We fully appreciate the impact this situation is having on public movement, surrounding businesses, environmental conditions, and the daily lives of our communities.”
According to the municipality, the Mahatma Gandhi Pump Station suffered critical electrical and mechanical failures, disrupting normal pumping operations at the facility.
Officials said excessive rags and foreign objects entering the system damaged screening mechanisms and clogged pumps, contributing to the breakdown.
Since the incident began, municipal sanitation teams, engineers, and specialist technicians have been working around the clock to stabilise the station and restore pumping capacity.
However, Msweli said additional technical complications were discovered during repair and recommissioning work, resulting in further delays.
“The Municipality immediately attended to the matter as an emergency and mobilised all available technical resources to address the situation,” he said.
The station was already operating under constrained conditions at the time of the incident, with only two of its four designed pumps operational. One of the pumps was undergoing repairs under a Mechanical and Electrical Emergency Repairs Contract and had not yet been fully commissioned.
“By design, one pump alone is insufficient to effectively manage incoming sewer flows at this critical facility,” Msweli explained.
In an attempt to improve capacity, the municipality urgently sourced a replacement pump, which was installed on May 10. While the intervention temporarily improved operations, another failure occurred almost immediately afterwards.
The city then took what Msweli described as an “extraordinary decision” to accelerate the commissioning of Pump 1 on May 11, despite the project still being under execution.
“While this approach carries technical risks, the decision was taken in the interest of restoring at least two operational pumps to the station and reducing the impact on the public,” he said.
Repair work is continuing on the affected infrastructure, while additional specialised equipment and components have been sourced to improve operational stability and reliability at the station.
As part of mitigation measures, the municipality has temporarily closed Bay of Plenty, North Beach, and Battery Beach due to contamination linked to the overflow incident.
The city said the beach closures were necessary to protect public safety while water quality monitoring and remediation work continue.
“These include continuous monitoring of overflow points, deployment of sanitation response teams, cleaning and disinfection operations, and traffic support where required,” Msweli said.
While emergency containment efforts remain the immediate priority, the municipality acknowledged that the incident has exposed broader infrastructure challenges at the Mahatma Gandhi Pump Station.
The city said medium-term interventions are now being implemented to strengthen operational resilience and reduce the likelihood of similar incidents in the future.
Planned upgrades include improvements to electrical and mechanical systems, enhanced ventilation and gas management infrastructure, replacement of ageing equipment, and strengthening maintenance and spare capacity.
In the longer term, the municipality plans to undertake major infrastructure upgrade projects aimed at addressing historical design and operational shortcomings identified through technical investigations and engineering assessments.
“The Municipality wishes to assure the public that this matter is receiving urgent attention at the highest level,” Msweli said.
“Our teams remain on site and continue working day and night to restore normal operations and reduce the impact on affected communities.”