Tshwane tackles 18-year sewage crisis as Centurion residents demand urgent repairs

For eighteen years, the Riet River has been a source of complaint rather than relief for residents of Thatchfield Estate in Centurion. The sewage smell is constant enough that about fifty homes near the water have had to keep their windows sealed shut, their occupants relying on air conditioning to manage the persistent odour that drifts from the contaminated waterway. The river itself has become unsafe—residents can no longer enter it without concern, and the wildlife that depends on it has suffered from the ongoing pollution.

Mossie Mostert, who manages Thatchfield Estate, has watched this problem accumulate over nearly two decades. He and the residents have made repeated approaches to municipal authorities and organized regular cleanup efforts, but the contamination has only deepened. The sewage entering the Riet River is not a mystery—it is the visible symptom of failures in the city's wastewater collection network. Yet the problem persists, and now it carries a secondary cost: prospective buyers are being deterred by the smell and the river's condition, affecting property values in the area.

Ward 64 councillor Alta de Kock has begun pushing for action. She has called on the City of Tshwane to investigate and repair the source of the sewage, to remove the accumulated litter and debris from the riverbanks, to install litter traps, and to establish a maintenance programme that prevents the problem from recurring. She has also advocated for public education campaigns to reduce littering near waterways. Her concern is not abstract—heavy rains are coming, and when they do, the contamination will flow downstream, carrying the accumulated pollution further into the water system.

The City of Tshwane's infrastructure department has acknowledged the problem and outlined a response. Preliminary investigations have identified failures and overflows in the wastewater collection network as contributors to the pollution, though officials note that other sources are also being considered. Teams have begun identifying and repairing faults as they arise. In one recent intervention near the R55 and Riet River, workers opened a manhole to clear an obstruction and rebuilt the chamber. The city conducts monthly inspections and water-quality monitoring, and response teams are deployed when faults are reported.

But the real work lies ahead. The metro has completed planning and design for three major infrastructure projects: repairing a collapsed 800-millimetre outfall sewer pipe in Rietspruit, constructing a new sewer pipe river crossing at Imbongolo Street in Olievenhoutbosch, and reconstructing a collapsed sewer line at Kiaat and Assegaai streets. These are not minor repairs. They are the kind of work that requires environmental approvals and contractor appointments before implementation can begin. Lindela Mashigo, the metro's spokesperson, confirmed that the city is waiting for Environmental Impact Assessment approvals and contractor appointments before moving forward.

What remains unclear is the full extent of the contamination. The metro did not provide water quality test results showing E.coli or bacterial levels by the time of publication, leaving open the question of just how dangerous the river has become. Municipal inspectors have tested the water occasionally, and Mostert noted that the smell sometimes improves after rainfall, but that temporary relief masks the underlying pollution that has been building for nearly two decades. The residents of Thatchfield Estate are waiting to see whether the planned repairs will finally address what has become one of Centurion's most persistent environmental failures.