Some residents of Ext 19, in Leandra, want the Govan Mbeki Municipality to relocate them because of sewage that flows inside their houses and yards.
Some of these residents, who live in RDP houses, said they are afraid that their houses might collapse and kill them because of sewage spills.
Sibusiso Nkosi has been living with sewage in his house for more than seven years and his furniture is damaged.
“To report or not to report is the same. We’ve been reporting this problem to our municipality for years but it seems they don’t have a solution although it was them who allocated these stands to us. Who is going to pay for my damaged furniture?
“I won’t say much about my RDP house that is being flooded by sewage because it was built by the government. Maybe they don’t care about the money that was used to build it,” said Nkosi.
Ethel Fantein is worried about the cracks in the walls of her house and that the walls might collapse at any time.
She blames the municipality for not taking care of residents.
“My family and I have been living in this condition for almost 26 years. We have reported this spillage often. Municipal workers come and unblock the drain, but then after a few days, it begins again.”
Fantein claims her furniture has also been destroyed.
“Sometimes the sewage even pushes up and spills over the toilet seat to the floor. Our rights to live in a safe and healthy environment are being infringed upon,” said Fantein.
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Nomthandazo Khumalo said her two children were sick because of sewage and she was forced to remove them from their home to a family in another section.
“When I took them to the doctor, I was told that they have respiratory diseases because of the environment we are living in. My house’s walls are always wet and my furniture was damaged by sewage water.
“The stench is bad for our health. The municipality should relocate us because it is clear that they don’t have a solution to the sewage issues.
“It has been years now and if they had a plan, the situation was going to change for the better but it became worse.”
Donald Green, the acting head of communications, said the municipality conveyed its apology to the families who have been inconvenienced by the sewer spillage in and around the area.
Green said this was a result of an erf connection that was damaged.
The municipal team began on June 26 to repair and replace it and connect it to the new manhole.
“We appeal to residents to report a spillage of sewage or water to the municipal customer call centre on 0800 6000 01/2/4 or send a WhatsApp message to 083 790 0659/082 343 2422 for a speedy response to resolve the problem,” said Green.
