Mysterious gas smell leads to complaints from neighbours
Employees of the companies situated in Boksburg East are facing days of torment over a mysterious pungent smell, wafting through the air in the area.
The Advertiser has received many calls and e-mails from people, who are concerned about the health impacts.
It is at this stage unclear where the stink comes from, but Karen McSweeney alleges that the unpleasant odour, which affects them on a daily basis, is emanating from Unilever.
Like several other neighbours, McSweeney says they started smelling gas since last year.
According to her, the smell “deepens” when you approach Uniliver premises.
McSweeney compares the mystery smell in the area to gas, and adds that sometimes the pong smells more like dead bodies.
“The smell is making our lives unbearable. It is a threat to our health and safety, and it makes us sick. It makes us nauseous. It is really strong and has caused some of our staff members to suffer from headaches,” says McSweeney who works at a neighbouring company.
McSweeney says she had complained to Unilever about smelling gas emanating from the company.
External Affairs and media manager at Unilever South Africa, Unathi Mgobozi, confirmed that Unilever had received a complaint about gas smell, allegedly emanating from the branch in Boksburg.
Mgobozi says the company is unaware of anything likely to have caused the smell, but the allegation is being taken very seriously, and the source of the smell is being investigated by her company.
The complainant, McSweeney, says that she complained to the municipality about the smell last year.
At that time she and her colleagues were convinced that the source of the odour was a nearby sewage drain.
According to McSweeney, the municipal checked out the drain and found no problems.
She isn’t giving up though. She is considering making another official complaint to the metro, and a request that the metro investigates the source of the smell.
“The metro has to do as much as it can to make sure the problem is addressed,” says McSweeney.
The Department of Environmental Affairs says the matter falls within the jurisdiction of the metro.
At the time of going to press, the metro has not yet commented.
