Business owners along Oliver Tambo Road in Samora Machel are complaining about the sewage that is streaming down the road in front of their businesses, citing that it poses a negative impact on their businesses.
They said it’s been more than three months of living in the mess.
One of the business owners, the owner of Diadora Barbershop, only known to City Vision as “Emmanuel”, said they have been working under these conditions for quite some time.
He said the City of Cape Town fixed the drainage system, but a pipe burst again.
“The sewage comes from Kosovo informal settlement all the way down the Oliver Tambo Road. Customers are not coming as they used to because of the dirt. The stench that is coming from the dirty water is unbearable,” he said.
He stated that even pedestrians are struggling to walk on the pavement as the motorists splash them with sewage.He stated that in most cases the pedestrians are walking on one side of the road which causes congestion.
“The road also has potholes because of the dirty water. I think the City needs to change the underground infrastructure in Kosovo. We are not safe here, our lives are in danger of contagious diseases,” he explained, adding that the number of their customers is dwindling every day.
While the City Vision was busy taking pictures of the road one of the taxi operators (amaphela) who was passing by shouted through the window and said: “Tell the City to fix the road. We are paying for this road. They (the City officials) mustn’t impound our cars but they don’t fix the road.”