Every time it rains, farmers rejoice because rains mean a good harvest to them, but to the five families living along Ikwezi Road in S’godiphola Ward 47, the rains have been nothing short of a curse for them since 2012.
According to their spokesperson Sizakele Mbele, they have been to several government departments and agencies without receiving any redress for their watery problems.
“Two councillors who have been at the helm in this ward, including the current councillor have been made aware of our problem.
“We have sent several petitions to the relevant departments hoping that someone would listen to them, without any success,” said Mbele.
She said every time it is rains, mud and dirty water fills their yards.
Another resident, Nompumelelo Mabuya said that one of the five houses affected by this experienced a blocked sewage drain which worsened the flooding in the house.
The residents feel that it is ironic that the major challenge of the five affected houses, in the past five years, has been of floods, but the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) built a driveway to all five affected houses.
They should have installed the drainage system, ramps at the affected five house gates and pipes at the gates to control rainwater, not a tarred driveway.
Despite new JRA effort, the flooding persists and with the high rainfalls recently, their problems are worsened and last up to several days after heavy rains.
Fortunately, residents were finally promised by the municipality that a team of experts would be tasked with visiting the affected families to resolve their issues.
