For nearly three months, residents of Toekomsrus have been subjected to the putrid stench of sewage, after the main sewerage line became blocked.
Residents said breathing the odour constantly may have severe health repercussions. They said they need the municipality to act swiftly on the issue.
Among those who are affected are business owners, who say the bad smell is turning their customers away.
“We have been phoning and complaining about this and even went to the municipal offices in person. We even got our ward councillor to take photos to send to the municipality, but until now, nothing has been done,” the manager of a local business, Mercy Pienaar said.
Pienaar said there were promises that the municipality would send people to the area, but nothing came of it.
“They have always said they will send people, but days have gone by. It has been three months now. They have given us the same story again, and still no one came,” Pienaar said.
She said the conditions that have been created by the sewerage can have detrimental consequences on those living nearby, especially children.
“This is very unhygienic, it can make us sick. There are people living with small children, who can end up in hospital because bacteria are everywhere.
“They never come here and see what we are complaining about. They think we are phoning for fun because we do not have anything to do. As a matter of fact, there are people’s lives involved, an we are going to end up sick. I am suffering from flu and diarrhoea at this very moment. It’s going to get worse because of these conditions.
Another resident, Willie Williams, said: “The main sewerage line has been blocked. The municipal workers were here last week, working on it, but they could not even open it. They have been gone ever since, because they saw they could do nothing about it.”
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