Alexandra hostel residents endure years of sewage nightmare

The Helen Joseph Women’s Hostel in Alexandra, named after the struggle stalwart, stands as a towering crumbling structure on 4th Avenue north of Johannesburg.

Residents struggle due to the overwhelming stench, water and sanitation infrastructure problems due to years of neglect.

Massive pools of sewage litter parts of the hostel and residents say the drainage system has been problematic since 2022.

Massive pools of sewage since 2022

Ntombi Ngwenya, who has lived on the lower floors of Block J2 for over two decades said: “Things have only gotten worse. The blockages have increased, and now sewage flows from the upper floors into our homes.

“We’ve resorted to using sandbags to create barriers, but we can’t open our doors or windows. Human waste stares at us daily, and the smell is unbearable. The only thing I do is put a towel at the door to block it,” she said.

Built in 1972 by the apartheid government to accommodate migrants from the rural areas, the sewerage infrastructure is constantly blocked, leading to raw sewage flowing onto the grounds.

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This has created persistent stench, with rodent infestation posing a health risk.

Ngwenya, who works as part of the Expanded Public Works Programme, says residents have taken it upon themselves to clean up.

“We have to clean it ourselves, or we’ll live in this hell forever. But even after we clean, it happens again. It’s rotten inside and outside. We can’t even open our windows. It gets worse in summer and when it rains.

‘Rotten inside and outside’

“The worst part is that we live with children –they inhale this. What kind of life is this? But we have nowhere to go.”

A 2014 report by the SA Human Rights Commission found some internal lines were blocked or broken, while others ran underneath buildings, worsening the situation. A decade later, not much has changed.

Lebogang Tladi, who lives between Sections C and D of the hostel, said the conditions were now at their worst.

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“Sewage water has been stagnant in large parts of the hostel. The issue isn’t just outside; inside, the toilet facilities are dysfunctional. When someone on the upper floors uses the toilet, water flows to the lower floors and floods the passageways.”

Tladi added: “Up to 20 people share a toilet because most are blocked. There are large drains, but they are as good as nonexistent. Waste spills everywhere.”

Tladi said the hostel’s plumbing system was failing due to increased demand.

Plumbing system failing due to increased demand

“This is not a priority for the housing department. If we complain about small things, they show up, but this – our biggest issue –they ignore. There are sections we can’t even access because the sewage sometimes gets knee-high. People on the lower floors have to go upstairs to find a functioning toilet because they can’t use the flooded passages.”

When The Citizen visited, residents complained about leaking roofs, shattered windows, dark hallways and a lack of electricity.

Another resident said: “We have long suffered. We are now told that for doors, windows and even the electricity box inside our rooms, we should find our own way to fix them. We have to pay money we don’t have. They come, do their walkabouts, but nothing changes. We just wait, hoping that someday they will act.”

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