The pair have been living on the property in Elm Road for 20 years and have two young children of seven and 11 years old.
“I am a pensioner, my only income is to rent out the houses next to mine, but I can’t because tenants can’t handle the dust,” explained Graham.
Antonette said her children are constantly sick because of the dust.
“My kids can’t even play outside because they get sick, but how can I expect them to be cooped up in the house during school holidays?” said a frustrated Antonette.
Their general practitioner, Dr Charlotte Dubert, said the family regularly visits her office for treatment for sinusitis, caused by an allergic reaction to dust.
She said some people are more allergic to dust than others.
Dubert said sinusitis caused by allergies can result in bacterial sinusitis, which is treated with antibiotics.
She confirmed that the family is at risk of becoming immune to antibiotics.
Graham said his family is not on medical aid and taking his children to the doctor so often is expensive.
They say there has been a substantial increase in traffic and said the municipality must modify the roads to adapt to this.
“People started taking short cuts to work to avoid traffic, we have never had this problem until recently,” she said.
Graham added that “people have no respect for the roads because they don’t live there”.
He suggested a four-way stop at the Elm and Larch roads intersection to minimise speeding and, in turn, dust.
The couple also claim that a resident who has lived up the road from them for two years complained about the roads and this person was assisted with a temporary solution.
“I just feel it’s unfair,” said Graham, adding that he has been living in the street for 18 years longer.
“I understand that they are tarring the road from one point to the other and that it is expensive, but why didn’t they just cover the whole street [with the grey gravel]?” he said.
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality spokesperson Themba Gadebe said the tarring of the roads referred to by the Hattingh family is in the integrated development plan (IDP) of Ward 25.
“It will be rehabilitated as soon as the IDP is passed by council,” said Gadebe.
Gadebe said their spray machine broke down, but they will resume covering the road with the grey gravel on October 19.
Also read:
Ekurhuleni leads job creation – metro
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