Rising water levels have left Rynfield’s Boat Lake sewer pump station submerged, forcing municipal workers to walk through the dam to carry out maintenance.
A sewage crisis that has plagued Rynfield’s Boat Lake area for more than a decade is still without a funded permanent solution, with rising water levels now submerging the sewer infrastructure and leaving the system vulnerable to stormwater infiltration during heavy rains.
The City of Ekurhuleni said the sewer pump station serving the area, which was once on dry land, is now fully submerged as the water level in the dam has steadily risen over the years.
City Manager Kagiso Lerutla said the situation had deteriorated to the point where municipal workers could no longer reach the pump station without walking through the dam in gumboots.
“The pump station used to be on dry land but over the years the dam level has been gradually increasing,” Lerutla said, adding that the situation had worsened since last year’s rainfall.
He said the pump station was now “fully submerged under water”, forcing maintenance teams to walk through the dam to reach it because a vacuum or combination truck could not access the site.
The city said it had previously raised and sealed some of the affected manholes and planned to raise and seal the remaining ones during the 2026/27 financial year.
Lerutla said measures already put in place had not fully resolved the problem, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall.
The municipality is continuing to monitor the sewer network and plans to raise the affected manholes further to limit stormwater entering the system. It also plans to approach the Roads and Stormwater Department about installing a pumping system to control the water level in the dam.
“Without the pumping system, the dam level will keep rising as and when it rains, and this will continue to negatively affect the operation of the pump station.”
He said the long-term solution was to drain Boat Lake and lower its water level before the rainy season, pointing to a similar flood-prevention method used at OR Tambo International Airport.
“The permanent solution is to drain the lake water to reduce the lake water levels in the spring season so that it does not flood during the rainy season. The same method is implemented at the OR Tambo International Airport to prevent the airport from flooding.”
The proposed solution, however, does not yet have a confirmed budget or implementation date.
Lerutla said the Roads and Transport Department would only be able to determine the cost once preliminary designs had been completed, while the long-term project would have to be included in the municipality’s Integrated Development Plan and receive a budget allocation.
The DA Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate Khathutshelo Rasilingwane accused the provincial government of failing to intervene in a crisis that has dragged on for more than a decade, saying residents were still being left to deal with the consequences of the ongoing sewer infrastructure problems.
“Responding only once service delivery failures are made public is not leadership; it is damage control,” Rasilingwane said.
She questioned how the province could still be discussing preliminary designs when residents were already dealing with sewage contamination, saying the lack of a confirmed budget and implementation date was unacceptable.
“After more than a decade, Mamabolo is still talking about preliminary designs rather than implementation. Residents are dealing with sewage now, yet the MEC’s solution remains somewhere in the planning pipeline,” Rasilingwane said.
Rasilingwane said the DA would use its oversight mechanisms to push the province and the City of Ekurhuleni to act, arguing that residents could not be expected to endure another decade of delays and unfunded plans.
MEC for Infrastructure Development Jacob Mamabolo acknowledged that the Boat Lake crisis required a permanent solution, saying it could not be addressed through isolated interventions by different departments.
“The Boat Lake situation highlights the need for integrated planning across water, sanitation, roads and stormwater departments. The city must develop a funded and time-bound plan for a permanent solution.”
He said the province would continue supporting municipalities through the Gauteng Local Government Turnaround Strategy, particularly on infrastructure planning, budgeting, contract management and accountability. He also stressed that municipalities had to take responsibility for projects under their control.
“Municipalities must plan properly, appoint capable contractors and intervene early when projects fall behind schedule. Infrastructure must be delivered within the approved time, cost and quality standards,” Mamabolo said.
