Residents of Emaphupheni Section 17 in Etwatwa say recurring sewer blockages have pushed them to the breaking point, with some forced to use nearby open spaces to relieve themselves.

Doctor Phiri said he was left with no choice but to relieve himself in a nearby veld after his toilet became blocked about a week ago and sewer water started overflowing.

He initially used a neighbour’s toilet, but said they eventually grew tired of accommodating him, forcing him to use a veld opposite a wetland.

During the Benoni City Times’ visit on September 2, sewer water filled Phiri’s toilet, with wet newspapers dangling from the seat. The contaminated water spilt onto the floor and formed a stream that flowed outside.

Phiri said he immediately reported the blockage to the Etwatwa Customer Care Centre (CCC), where he received a reference number and was promised assistance.

However, no one had arrived by September 2, despite him returning to the centre the previous day.

“CCC gave me a reference number and promised to help me. No one has come. I went back again yesterday (September 1), but nothing has happened.”

Phiri called on the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) to intervene and investigate the community’s plumbing infrastructure.

“The municipality must redo the entire piping of the area. These pipes are too small. The plumbers that were deployed here did a shoddy job. They just chowed money,” he said.

His neighbour, Bibi Mashigo, is facing a similar problem. A stream of sewer water runs outside her toilet, forcing her to walk on her toes to avoid stepping in it when accessing her backroom.

A pool of sewer water has also formed outside the toilet, directly next to her kitchen window.

Further up the street, Simangaliso Mbonani has dug a trench to divert sewer water from his toilet, past his front door and into the street. From there, the water joins a larger trench leading towards a nearby wetland.

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“We’ve been reporting it for almost five years. They come and unblock it and after a day, it blocks again,” said Mbonani.

“When one manhole is unblocked in one part of the area, another one blocks somewhere else. The issue here is big. Our streets are decorated with pools of sewer water from the blocked municipal manholes.”

Across the street, elderly resident Vista Kubheka said the ongoing sewerage problem is affecting residents’ quality of life and raising health concerns.

Kubheka, who has been coughing for about three weeks, went for a tuberculosis test on September 1 and said her grandson, Olwethu Malalane (10), who has also been coughing, would be tested too.

“It’s harming us. We have been living like this for years and are now used to living with the sewerage. Our problem now is that when we get ill, we are told to get tested for TB,” she said.

Kubheka said residents often resorted to digging trenches themselves to divert sewage, while a pool formed along the edge of the nearby wetland where children play.

“I suspect my coughing is from the stench of the sewage because we repair it ourselves by digging trenches. We’ve been doing this for years.”

She pleaded with the municipality to investigate the area’s plumbing infrastructure and find a permanent solution.

“We want them to come here and hear us out because we are the ones being harmed by this.”

We sent an enquiry to CoE on September 3 and requested a response by September 7. They had not responded at the time of publishing. We will add their comment once received.

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