Residents affected by ongoing sewage

It’s been almost five months since the Herald visited Oom Jappie Jacob Moeng to assess the sewage in his yard. The 75-year-old says nothing has changed since then.

“ I am constantly fighting with the municipality about this issue but no one is willing to assist,” he lamented. 

Oom Jappie says the situation has gotten so bad that his wife was forced to find a temporary place to stay while they find a solution for the sewage. “ This issue has been a great inconvenience for us,” he said.  “ Earlier this year, I also had to move out of my house due to the sewage becoming unbearable during extremely hot weather,” he explained. 

However, the smell isn’t the only inconvenience for Oom Jappie, he also has to use his grant money on medication due to infections caused by the sewage and also asks his neighbours for clean water to drink. 

“ I can not be living at such a place at my age, I am physically sick because of this and to make matters worse, dirty water comes out of the tap,” he said. “ I can’t afford to buy water so I am constantly bothering my neighbours,” he added.

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Almost every month, Om Jappie needs to borrow money from cash loans to visit different doctors for medical assistance. “ As a pensioner, I cannot afford to hire people to fix my sewerage; all my grant money is used to pay back loan sharks,” he explained.

However, Oom Jappie isn’t the only one who has had to work around the sewage. His neighbour Lesego Lesole says her 13-year-old has a server lung infection due to the sewage. “ I had no choice but to send him off to live somewhere else because his condition was only getting worse,” she said. 

In spite of Lesego’s complaints, nothing has been done. “ The sewage will stop for three days then it will continue again. We have even become accustomed to it,” she said. The Herald is awaiting a response from the municipality.