By Thapelo Matlala
If they want to avoid being ankle-deep in sewage, the Zekevu family in Extension Eight must walk over pieces of corrugated iron every time they step out of their front door and into their garden.
Violet Zekevu (59) and her daughter Ncediswa Zekevu (40) placed the sheets of zinc over the sewage flooding around their house, in a vain attempt to stop their children from tracking sewage inside. A municipal sewage leak, which has gone unattended since December 2022, has seen sewage flood right up to their front door, with the road next to their house and a huge field opposite also flooded with sewage.
This is not the slightly foul-smelling sewage mixed with water that intermittently invades Makhanda communities. This is an extremely noxious-smelling deluge. It is not only sadness that clouds the hearts of the Zekevu family, but broken-heartedness that leads them to question the empathy of their ANC councillor and the municipality.
They poured out their hearts to Grocott’s Mail about the rash that is affecting their kids, and endangering their health, coupled with compromising the children’s hygiene whenever they play in the garden. ”Now and again, I have to be on the lookout, ensuring that the kids are playing nowhere near to this. It hurts!” says grandmother Violet Zekevu. Her daughter Ncediswa adds that it feels that the family is eating the sewage because it flows right up to the front door.
Teenager Hlumile Zekevu, Violet’s grandchild, said the children have to watch their step closely, even when they are late for school. They need to walk on eggshells because if they run, they might slip or trip into the mud of the sewage. When it rains, the sewage level rises and the neighbours have to rush to the Zekevu family’s front gate with rocks, pieces of zinc, and sand just so that they can exit.
“It is painful to live in this state because when it rains, it becomes worse. The rot rises up the wall and the whole house just smells. The municipality is not helping at all,” said Violet Zekevu.
The Zekevu family’s neighbour, Sphamandla Tshobo, told Grocott’s Mail: “When it is hot, the smell just screams! We are forced to do laundry inside the house.” Another neighbour, Nomvula Sngongo says she is living in shackles and sorrow inside her home. During the interview, she was frowning with hopelessness and looking drained.
“The municipality said on countless occasions that they are going to come and help, but even today I am still waiting,” said Sngongo. She said she has lived in this unpleasant, devastating, and disheartening situation for quite some time, and has only ever heard that the municipality will come and check. “I already know the hymn that is going to be sung when I ask about this. I don’t even know what to say,” Sngongo sighed.
Sngongo is more fortunate than her neighbour only because her yard is on a slight incline and she has managed to dig a channel for the sewage to flow through. However, she still needs to walk through sewage to get to her outside toilet. “I get so stressed to even think about the energy I need to use when I want to go to the bathroom, and this bad smell just makes me sick,” she says.
Aphiwe Jantjies is a concerned community member in the area who says she is very unhappy with the sewage leak, and that the community feels uncared for. “We’ve been walking in these dreaded streets for about 18 months. Our kids are playing in the very same streets and they come home with rashes on their bodies. Truth be told, eRhini doesn’t care about us,” said Jantjies.
Lwando Sangotsha, Sivuyile Stoffel and Tateyi Stoffel arrived during the Grocott’s Mail interview. They were fuming and interjecting, heavily disgruntled and wanting to say their piece. “My grandmother has a fever, she is sick, and her nostrils are blocked. She is not the only one who is badly affected by this”, said one of the young men. “We can’t even watch TV in our comfort zone, because of this horrible smell that is in our homes,” said another, while questioning if there was anything that this Grocott’s Mail story would do to help them. ”If not, they may just leave us,” said a passer-by.
Photo: Thapelo Matlala.
The concerned residents said that one family in the area had to relocate a funeral to a relative’s house because the open field is completely waterlogged by the sewage and there was no way that cars could have parked on it, as they customarily do when there are events in the area.
Makana municipality did not respond to questions from Grocott’s Mail. This story will be updated if the municipality replies.
