Boipatong sewage crisis finally gets authorities’ attention

It’s always rewarding when a story we’ve run in The Citizen catches the attention of the authorities that can change a community’s misfortune, but the question always remains: why did it have to get to this point?

The story in question? The 63-year-old Masetumo Marago’s home in Gauteng’s Boipatong township turned into a place of sickness, foul smells and an unending battle with raw sewage.

Living with her 25-year-old daughter and 93-year-old father, Marago’s health has taken a turn for the worse the past two years since the sewage problems, battling with various breathing ailments.

She said: “I am literally dying in my home… and nobody cares. For me to step out of my house, I have to put on four face masks and a handkerchief.”

Now, it looks as though health authorities are prepared to do something about it – even though the problem has been reported on numerous occasions, with little to no action.

The problem? A contractor failed to clear a blocked sewer at a school, resulting in a blockage of the line serving nearby homes and spilling into nearby properties, including Marago’s.

Marago said: “All our efforts have been in vain. Recently, I went to the municipality, desperate for help, but all I got was an admission that this was a serious problem. But nothing has been done.”

Now, new Deputy Water and Sanitation Minister Jack Bloom has taken the first steps to get to the bottom of it, engaging with human rights activist and president of the Reliable Environmental Protection and Care Agency, Reverend Modise Molefe, who alerted The Citizen to the problem in the first place.

Sadly, there is red tape to get through before action is taken, but it’s a start.

We don’t blame Molefe for saying “they’ll believe it when they see it”, having grown “weary of political prose”.

Let’s hope it’s resolved sooner, rather than later.