JOHANNESBURG SOUTH – When senior citizens at the Annie Burger Old Age Home became tired of waiting for contractors to unblock their drain, they took rods and accessories and did the job themselves.
On the afternoon of Wednesday January 15, Bettie Roode (71) and Daniel Erasmus (70) helped each other open and unblock the drain, because Bettie needed to continue with her life, and she could not to do so with water coming up her sink and bath every time she opened her taps.
The seniors were very disappointed and angry after reporting the problem. No person should ever live without this convenience, especially when paying rent, and they were forced to fix it themselves as no help came their way.
Bettie said what frustrated her to end up opening the drain herself was that, in 2014, she reported the same drain as blocked around March, but she ended up waiting for months before it was unblocked.
This was an experience Daniel described as “unacceptable,” considering they are elders and reported the problem to the management office, which treats drain blockage as urgent.
With the drain blocked, Bettie had no water in her unit, making life for her almost impossible. She has been through this before and she was not going to take it anymore.
Bettie said she reported the problem on Monday January 12, two days later she could not take it anymore and feared experiencing the same situation she had last year.
Fikile Thusi from the caretaking office acknowledged that Bettie reported the problem, even though their book showed that it was reported on Tuesday January 13.
Nonetheless, according to Fikile, she noted Bettie’s complaint and informed the relevant department which is supposed to assign contractors to unblock the drain, as drains are considered an emergency.
Fikile also suggested that the contractors not coming on time could have been because it is still the beginning of the year so there could be meetings or certain changes which are being addressed.
The COURIER contacted Nkosinathi Nkabinde from the City of Johannesburg, who is investigating the complaint and will provide a report on what happened and why.
Meanwhile, DA Ward 54 Councillor Sergio dos Santos said: “There is definitely an issue with the Housing Department not resolving certain service delivery problems. There has been a number of issues in the seniors’ homes about geysers constantly leaking but not getting fixed; uncut grass and blocked drains.”
Cllr Dos Santos will also find out what happened.
