By Loyiso Dyongman
An unbearable sewage stench coming from inside an Extension 9 family home forced its six occupants to go and sleep in the caretaker’s house near the hall.
On Monday 28 August it was sewage all over the house and the family sat outside not knowing where to start. The main sewage manhole pipe situated in the yard was spilling over.
Inside the 25 Mthathi Street house, sewage had spewed from a nearby inspection cover and spread throughout the house. Makana Municipality officials pleaded with the family to go and sleep in the Extension 9 caretaker’s house that day. Ayanda Jawa, a family member living in that house, said he was called by his sister from work on Monday to come and help them remove furniture from the house.
“I was forced to leave work and come back home. When I arrived here the sewage was all over the house as you can see now.
“Groceries have been destroyed and we don’t have food to eat now. The fridge is also not working now because of this flooding. This has been happening since 2001 and the Makana Municipality is aware as we have been reporting this since then. This is the third time this has happened this year,” said Jawa.
Makana municipality’s Water and Sanitation Manager Ntombi Tshicilela also went to that home to attend the matter that evening. She spoke to Grocott’s Mail and said the matter would be dealt with immediately.
“The family will be provided with a place to sleep tonight, but something needs to happen,” Tshicilela said.
“The problem is the manhole that is right here in this yard. What happens now is that sewage from all the houses in this particular area comes to this manhole. This house should have not been built here. Definitely the house needs to be demolished. The municipality would then need to identify a house that is not occupied in Extension 10 and give it to this family. That would be a permanent solution to this problem,” said Tshicelela.
According to information from the family, the sewage spill started around midday on Monday. They reported it to the municipality and officials arrived with disinfectant powder.
Six people live in the house, among them children and a 70-year-old woman undergoing TB treatment. The pensioner said she had been sitting outside the house all day with nothing to eat.
Inspection covers are constructed at intervals along the sewer lines for providing access into them. They allow the joining of sewers or changing the direction of the sewer, or the alignment of a sewer, or both.
