Nestled away in the sugarcane fields, out of sight and mind of Ballito, is the informal settlement of Frasers off the R102 towards Tongaat.
Dilapidated shacks of corrugated iron sit neatly among seas of garbage neglected by the municipality over decades and standing human waste collecting over days, often weeks while children walk through it and starving animals hungrily eat it.
Sbusiso Ngcobo, a 22-year-old resident said he has lived there his whole life and has never seen anyone collecting the rubbish drowning their community, which forces residents to burn large piles of garbage and exposes them to the inhalation of toxic fumes.
“They never come. We often also have no fresh water to drink for up to two weeks at a time and must drink water from a drain until the trucks come,” said Ngcobo.
He said this polluted water source, which is stagnant, is a few kilometres away from the fringes of Zimbali.
“We are suffering. There is sometimes no toilet, so we use the bush and we are getting sick from all the dirt around us”.
Ngcobo said he and his fellow residents are suffering from symptoms including coughing, flu-like fevers, skin rashes and lesions, vomiting and diarrhoea.
This was confirmed by 59-year-old Elvis Mntunga, who moved to Frasers 42 years ago in July 1973.
“I have lived here since I was 17 and I have never seen any rubbish collectors, and now many people in the community are getting sick. They are coughing and many have stomach problems,” said Mntunga.
A large number of residents claim that Ethekwini Municipality and councillor for Ward 62, Nompumelelo Mabaso are responsible for the neglect of their settlement and the many health and environmental hazards they are forced to live with.
“She is doing nothing to help or serve us and only visits the settlement once a year when there are elections,” said Mntunga, who expressed his anger at the councillor for continuing to promise the community electricity, running water and garbage collection in the interests of being re-elected, but failing to deliver on her promises.
Another resident, Bobby Jagasar, who has lived in Frasers for 13 years, also accused Mabaso of gross incompetence in her role as councillor for allegedly refusing to meet with them.
“She never answers her phone – it is always switched off, and when we do reach her, she tells us that she cannot meet us because she is too busy,” said Jagasar.
He also claimed the settlement’s water crisis has been ongoing for almost six months, without any signs of improvement and that the community is desperate.
Shane Naidoo, a resident of six years and five others interviewed all agreed that not once has the ever-growing piles of garbage been collected and that many people are falling ill because of the low standard of living.
There is also the constant issue of illegal dumping, with people living outside the settlement driving through to get rid of their unwanted garbage, which only compounds the problem.
The Courier did contact councillor Mabaso, waiting almost two weeks for a statement on this matter, but she was unable to provide comment, while Ethekwini’s Tongaat branch failed to answer their phones.
