“Human waste is flowing in front of our house. We have to put sand to block it from coming inside the yard. The stench that is coming from the sewage is unbearable,”
This is how Siyamthanda Mazimela of Lillian Ngoyi Street, in Samora Machel, describes their living conditions.
According to irate residents, the problem has been ongoing for at least two months now.
Mazimela says they initially tried to divert the spillage, but things are now out of control. She says they informed the local councillor about the problem two weeks ago and had promised to deal with the matter. However, she claims he has since failed to deliver on his promise.
Mazimela says she is more concerned about the life or her granny and children.
“It’s difficult for the children to play in the yard and our grandmother has asthma,” she stated.
With winter rains fast approaching, Mazimela is appealing to the City of Cape Town to urgently intervene.
Ward 33 councillor Lungisa Somdaka said he is aware of the challenge. He attributed the fault to a broken pipe on another section of the road. “There’s a challenge of drain burst at Samora at large due to the broken sewage pipe at Lillian Ngoyi Street. Many sewage pipes are connected to that pipe at Lillian Ngoyi Street which makes it difficult for the sewer to pass through because the City is busy fixing it,” said Somdaka (“Blockages cause stink”, City Vision, 05 May).
He assured that as soon as the City completed fixing the pipe everything will go smoothly.
Somdaka urged the community to take responsibility and to look after their infrastructure.
“People must refrain from using newspapers when they are in the restrooms. And stop discarding foreign objects into the drains,” he appealed.