The Midlands Herald
Vow to bring
sewage nightmare
to an end
Greetings — giving
value to the community
Above: Marianne and her mother, Val Evans, in the book section at Greetings in Howick.
Greetings in Howick is one of those shops
that brings quality into the community —a
combination of chatty, friendly staff and
abundant stock (in this case, stationery and
gifts).
You’ll find it well positioned in Somme
Street, opposite the post office, in the
spacious premises formerly occupied by the
Good News Centre, with ample parking
outside.
Inside, the premises have been entirely
repainted and refurbished, with aisles and
shelving comfortably laid out.
Regular stock of English
and Zulu Christian books
“We have a good range of Christian books
and get stock in regularly,” says owner Val
Evans, who runs it with her daughter
Marianne and assistant Eileen.
“We are often requested to get in certain
books for our customers, and are able to
assist them with this.”
This includes Zulu Bibles, songbooks,
prayer books and other Christian literature.
Back-to-school requirements —
avoid the rush!
It may sound surprising at this stage, but
Above: Incredibly, these women are washing their laundry in the sewage-polluted uMngeni River above
the Howick Falls, in this picture taken by the Herald’s photographer on Wednesday 3rd December.
Left: E-coli levels at the Umgeni bridge just above the Falls (and the washing) have been recorded in the
millions. Photographed on the same day, and viewed from below, the bridge’s attractive design is apparent.
Greetings has already attended to your need
for back-to-school stationery next year.
As Val says, avoid the January rush and
make sure that you are stocked up for school
well before it begins in 2009!
“Our stationery, cards and gift sections
are still much the same,” she comments,
adding that these are selling well.
“However, I must say that being
positioned here has allowed us to expand a
little more and to put up more shelves.”
Toys, crafts, games and books
Then there is always the need for that
gift for children, and in this department
Greetings stocks educational toys, crafts,
games and books, as a browse around the
aisles will demonstrate.
But it’s not only children that are catered
for here, and a gift will just as easily be
found for a friend.
Val also points out that since moving from
the old premises, the shop has found that it
has steadily enlarged its stock of scrap
booking aids.
Val, Marianne and Eileen will always be
happy to assist you at Greetings.
Telephone 033-330 6981.
At a recent meeting with DUCT founder
Dave Still, DA Councillor Tim Lindsay-
White and members of the DUCT team in
Howick, senior management of uMgun-
gundlovu and uMngeni Water vowed to bring
the sewage nightmare that has threatened
Howick for the past few years to an end.
This follows months of reports in the
media of raw sewage flowing through the
streets of Siphumelele, passed front doors
of people’s homes, polluting the uMngeni
River, flowing under the Howick Bridge,
over the Howick Falls, and partially treated
effluent being discharged from the Waste
Water Treatment Works.
“Based on this open and productive
meeting, uMgungundlovu District
Municipality — which was previously
regarded as a dysfunctional municipality and
is responsible for our water and sanitation
— has shown great promise,” said Cllr
Lindsay-White. “The meeting was a breath
of fresh air, particularly in contrast with the
closed, non-transparent, non-accountable,
non-participatory management style of
uMngeni municipality’s Municipal Manager
Dumisani Vilakazi”.
The dramatic turn-around of uMgungun-
dlovu, in just the past few months, is further
evident in the District’s being given a clean
audit after two years of disclaimers.
“What it means for residents of
uMngeni,” Cllr Lindsay-White says, “is a
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Page 5 — December 2008
will to resolve problems, not to hide them.
The new sanitation team, since November,
impressed us with their willingness to
acknowledge the existing threat to the health
of uMngeni’s residents and environment,
their preparedness to listen, to determine the
challenges and their desire to resolve the
problems we are faced with.
“Whilst it was agreed that sanitation was
the right to ‘dignity’, the consensus was that
it was equally the right to ‘life’. There was a
strong reassurance that the conditions that
brought about the devastating cholera
outbreak killing hundreds in Zimbabwe,
would not be permitted to occur here.”
He continued: “Whereas non-compliance
of effluent from the WWTW at Howick was
45% when taken over from the uMngeni
Municipality in 2003, unacceptable
discharges have been reduced to 17,1% so
far. Importantly, R3 million is also to be
spent on upgrading the water works over the
next six months, whilst immediate plans and
a timetable are to be put in place to prevent
the pump stations at Howick West and the
Bridge from overflowing into the river.
“Suitable training of staff and competency
are also to be undertaken. They further gave
us assurances that there would be sufficient
capacity to handle the growing population
of Howick, with the additional 2 0000 to
3 000 homes planned to be built along the
Karkloof Road alone.”
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