200 sewer blockages reported in Mamelodi are
A Tshwane metro standby team is attending to the backlog.
The Tshwane metro has about 200 sewer blockages in Region 6 that it is unable to fix due to the municipal strike which started on July 25.
Spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said due to the strike the response time for attending to the reported blockages and overflowing sewers is affected but a standby team is attending to the backlog.
In Region 6, areas like Mamelodi and Nellmapius were also affected.
Among those who are affected is 75-year-old Dinah Wynand from Nellmapius extension 22 who was trapped inside her house for almost two weeks after sewage flooded her yard.
Wynand complained the smell is unbearable and that she is forced to stay indoors with windows closed at all times.
She said she is concerned that the blocked drainage will not be fixed anytime soon because the municipal workers are up in arms demanding an increase.
However, the strike is not the issue because the drain in Caledon Street had been a problem since December 2016, when she moved into the house and has affected more than 10 houses.
Wynand said her health is at risk from breathing the polluted air every day. She said to make matters worse, she has not fully recovered from a Covid-19 infection.
“Every time my neighbours use their bathrooms, whatever they flush, comes to my yard,” she said. Desperate to stop the overflow Wynand covered the drain in her yard with cement and bricks.
Another family in Mahube Valley, Mamelodi East has been battling a sewer overflowing into the yard for almost two months.
Homeowner Dorah Mgijimi (53) said even when municipal workers come out to unblock the drain they don’t do a good job because two to three days later it is overflowing again.
She claimed her yard was flooded with sewage.
When she reported the problem to the Mamelodi metro offices, metro workers came out to unblock the sewerage, but it is overflowing again.
“I immediately reported it again, only to be told the problem emanated from a main pipe in Tsamaya Road and a jetting machine was needed to unblock it,” said Mgijimi.
She said in 2018, sewage flooded four houses for almost a week before the problem was fixed.
“We have pleaded with the metro to remove the sewerage from my yard but it has thus far failed to remove it,” said Mgijimi.
She said she and the neighbour’s furniture were damaged and the metro promised compensation.
Mashigo said the metro is aware of the blockage in Caledon Street and the one in Mahube Valley.
He said the recent complaint was reported on July 25, when the strike started.
“There is a standby team dealing with all the outstanding sewer blockages,” said Mashigo.
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