Residents of Alabama Extention 5B in the City of Matlosana Local Municipality are disgusted by the malfunctioning sewage system and have had to live through these infrastructural shortcomings for two years.
They say nothing has been done to assist them until now.
Merry Mahooe said her house received sewer overflows from a stream of houses surrounding her. She said she could tell when her neighbours use their toilets because the sewage starts spilling in front of her door.
She said this has caused constant fights and arguments with her neighbours, which had happened since day one when the plumbing infrastructure started working in their area.
"I understand that they need to use their toilets, but it affects me the most because everything they do ends up in my yard. What is worse is that the sewer pipe is right next to my kitchen door, so every time we go outside, we can see everything lying there, which is not nice," she said.
Kelebogile Dasoi, a pensioner, said she sometimes skips taking her medication because she cannot even get to eat because of the sewage waste and then stench, thereof.
"These sewers are affecting us. There are days where I cannot even eat because of the smell, and I can't take my medication without food. I have a rash on my body because I do not take my medication properly. We are now tired of reporting to the municipality because we've been reporting since last year," she said.
Sello Moletsane, who is one of the affected residents, has at some stage collected contributions from those affected and bought and fitted sewer pipes to drain the sewerage away from the yards, and into a nearby field.
However, his efforts failed because the pipes were too short, and the sewage spilt very close to the homes.
“We decided to take matters into our own hands because we have complained and reported this to the municipality, but they cannot assist us. I ended up living alone because my wife and children were coughing continuously.
“We suspect it was due to this smell. I decided to take them to Jouberton to live with my wife's parents because we live in an unhealthy environment here. It has been over a year, and we still can't get used to it. We need help," said an angry Moletsane.
A Member of the Mayoral Committee responsible for infrastructure at the City of Matlosana Local Municipality, who is also a Ward Councillor in the area of Stoffet Barrens, said they are aware of the situation, and they found out that certain pipes were not properly connected.
He said as the municipality, they have taken the responsibility to resolve the mess left by the contractor who worked in the affected area.
“The problem in Extention 5B is that there was a contractor appointed for services, and after he left, we found out that certain pipes were not connected to the main sewer pipeline; therefore, the municipality had to come in and try to fix all this even though it was not the municipality's responsibility.
“Now we have made it our responsibility to reconnect all those sewer lines. In our new financial year (starting on July 1st), there is going to be a new contractor that is going to be appointed for our new sewer outfall project. He is going to replace all these small sewer pipelines and put in bigger pipes so that all the sewers cannot block now and then as experienced in the sewer outfall in Extention 5B," said Barrens.
