Shack dwellers from the Votsho informal settlement say they lost hope in the City, accusing the municipality of ignoring and marginalising them.
The residents claimed the City failed to assist them even though their lives were in danger because of their living conditions.
The residents said they have complained about the sewage that flooded their shacks numerous times.
The mess is caused by the drain burst in the vicinity. (“Votsho shack dwellers living in squalor”, City Vision, 21 December 2023).
A community leader, Nceba Magalela described the conditions in the area as appalling. He said their pleas fell on deaf ears.
“We were never assisted by the City. They (City employees) come and drain the sewage but they never permanently fix the problem. We are living with the problem till today,” said Magalela, adding that more than six months later nothing has changed.
He accused the City of having no plan to solve their problems. He said they dug the trench and diverted sewage to another drain.
“The City failed to fix the problem of drain burst that is occurring at Harare. We don’t know what happened in that drain because every time the City employees fix it bursts again. And it almost created a civil war among us here because when we blocked the sewage it went to other people’s shacks and we were shouting at each other,” he stated, adding that ever since they came with a plan it is no longer coming into their shacks.
He said many people vacated their shacks while others sold them because of the mess.
Nceba said the only burden that they are left with is the dirt that is left behind. He said they need the City to clean it because it stinks.
Magalela stated that both a ward councillor and the City at large provided them nothing. He accused the City of taking them for granted.
The City’s mayco member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien said the stubborn blockage in the bulk 600mm diameter sewer main in Welcome Zenzile in Kuyasa that affected a large part of Khayelitsha, including Harare, was cleared successfully on 24 January 2024.
He said the Water and Sanitation Directorate’s operational teams are now working through the interconnected sewer lines, which drain into the 600mm diameter main line, to clear all remaining blockages.
“Rags, stones, building rubble and foreign objects were dumped into the sewer causing the blockage on the main line. This was after a manhole located upstream was deliberately vandalised to create illegal connections.
Residents are kindly encouraged to lodge their complaints or service requests via the City’s communication channels and retain their reference numbers for follow-up purposes when received,” urged Badroodien.