- Ward 86 councillor in Lwandle is spearheading a cleaning spree to unblock all the stormwater drains in the area.
- The campaign started on Sunday 15 January and is expected to be completed by the end of next month.
- Councillor Xolani Diniso said the aim is to complete the campaign before the winter rains start.
Ward 86 councillor in Lwandle is spearheading a cleaning spree to unblock all the stormwater drains in the area.
The campaign started on Sunday 15 January and is expected to be completed by the end of next month.
Councillor Xolani Diniso said the aim is to complete the campaign before the winter rains start.
“We were targeting mostly some of the dirtiest streets which include Mxolisi, Simon, Nzuzo and Sithunzi,” he said. “Mxolisi is one of the dirtiest streets in the area because it has been blocked for years even before I became a ward councillor. The sewage was stagnant.”
He said some of the blockages were caused by illegal dumping.
Explaining why Mxolisi Street had been blocked for so long, Diniso said some of the Robben Island shack dwellers illegally built their shacks in a catchment pond, and water and sewage were unable to flow into it because it was blocked.
“We had to remove at least 32 shacks that were built in the pond and relocate them to Asanda Village for the sewage to flow,” he explained. “The sewage was stuck in the street in front of ACJ Phakade Primary School, which made it difficult for the learners to come in.”
One of the residents of Mxolisi Street, Nomakholwa Majangaza, said people were free at last after years of enduring a street caked with sewage.
“We were struggling to breathe because of the dirty water that was stuck here,” she said. “It affected not only us but also the learners here at ACJ Primary, where it was stuck right in front of the entrance.”
Majangaza appealed to the community to stop using the drains for discarding foreign objects.