Tshwane metro must permanently fix blocked sewer, pleads Mams family
Blocked sewer in Nellmapius has been terrorising neighbours for years.
A Mamelodi family is pleading with the Tshwane metro to unblock a sewer that regularly results in homes in Nellmapius flooding with human waste.
Fikile Dibakwane of ext. 7 claimed to have reported the blocked Xenon Street sewer before the problem emanated from her neighbours house, who first reported it years ago.
She said sewage often floods her neighbour’s yard and then goes through her own yard where most of the faeces pool.
“We have been experiencing this for years and indeed when reported, the metro does attend to it, but the fact remains that two or four days later the sewer is blocked again,” said Dibakwane.
She said she wants the problem permanently fixed.
“We have pleaded with the metro to at least look at a nearby manhole that we believe might be the problem.
“The locals believe the manhole is connected to the blocked sewer, but metro officials won’t listen to our cries,” she said.
She added she had watched her brick wall rot through the years, slowly being damaged bit by bit until it fell all because of the blocked sewer.
Dibakwane demanded the metro tell her who was responsible or compensate her for the wall.
She said she had spent a lot of money building the wall and won’t mind rebuilding it but knew sewage will definitely damage it again.
“Our health is at risk. We are worried about our health including children playing in the streets who might get sick from inhaling the stench or playing in the human waste pools in the streets,” she said.
She said she regularly visited the doctor because “we are getting sick from inhaling”.
“When it rains the blockage worsens and sometimes we get trapped in our own houses. We are unable to breathe fresh air, our windows are closed at all times because of the bad smell,” she added.
She said although families loved visiting each other during the festive season, she couldn’t accept visitors because of her yard was flooded by faeces.
The residents demanded the metro come fix the problem as soon as possible before it spread to neighbours.
“We have reported the blockage to the metro more than a hundred times,” they said.
The metro had yet to respond to the accusation at the time of publication.
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