Nolubabalo Ngqotsha's toilet started overflowing in July during the National Arts Festival. Since then it's been unfit to use and Ngqotsha and her husband have to wait until they get to work before they can relieve themselves.
Nolubabalo Ngqotsha's toilet started overflowing in July during the National Arts Festival. Since then it's been unfit to use and Ngqotsha and her husband have to wait until they get to work before they can relieve themselves.
They said although they reported the matter to Makana Municipality immediately, nothing had been done about it since then. Their employer, Dina Belluigi, tried to help by calling the municipality herself. She was put through to ward councillor Nombulelo Mamosa, who Belluigi said was polite and sympathetic.
However, because no further action had been taken since then, they decided to take the matter to Grocott's Mail.
"There are many households who seem to be facing the same problem. The sanitation systems have not been serviced within the area for quite some time, resulting in blocked toilets, sewage overflows and the health hazards that go with that," said Belluigi in an email to the newspaper.
Councillor Mamosa told Grocott's Mail she had referred the issue to the relevant person, Mncedisi Gojela, because she was not responsible for Ward 6. She said there was a schedule for the drainage of toilets and that because of the size of the area, workers couldn't reach every house in one day.
She said two of the trucks the municipality used to drain the toilets were broken, but that there was one operating which had been recently bought by the municipality.
Gojela acknowledged that he had been told about the problem and said, "Ward committee members have a list of the houses in Extension 6. They monitor the houses and alert the truck drivers about the houses they have left out."
"There are a lot of problems facing the community, but what I would propose is that the government install new toilets, because the current latrines are beyond repair. When it rains, the latrines fill up again," Gojela said.
"I've been told the truck drivers demand that the residents pay them to have their latrines cleaned, apart from the money they get from the municipality," said Gojela, who also lives in the area. Like Mamosa, he said there was a schedule they had to keep to.
Director of Water and Sewage in the municipality, Nongezi Mabece, said in an email he sent to Grocott's Mail that toilets in Extension 6 were drained only on Mondays and Tuesdays. On Wednesday, toilets in Transit Camp were drained; on Thursdays and Fridays, Hlalani and septic tanks were seen to.
Contrary to Mamosa's statement, Mabece said there were two trucks in operation and that only one was in for repairs.
"The house owners report to the ward councillor and we go to the house and clean the toilets as per request," said Mabece.
