IRATE residents in Philippi are tired of living with raw sewage trickling down the streets and mosquito-infested blocked drains. They warn that it poses a health risk and some of the children are being treated at the local clinic for skin rashes.
Luzuko in Philippi is among a string of communities that have complained of the hazards of raw sewage spilling from their drains and toilets.
Grandmother Nombulelo Mafanga, 57, said she noticed a rash on her grandchildren, six and nine, after a drain has been overflowing in Sakwatsha Street.
She said the mosquitoes buzz around the overflowing drain and a nearby pond. Her children also have diarrhoea.
“My grandchildren have rashes, pimples and they are itching and they cannot sleep at night. Now we need to buy mosquitoes repellents,” Mafanga said.
The Kukhanyile Educare situated in the Umyezo Drive has struggled to keep their doors open for the past three months as the road is covered in sewage when it rains.
Principal Nontsapho Gcelu, said that when it rained they had to put down bricks in front of the gate so that parents and their children could enter the premises.
“They cannot access the creche because the sewage fills the street. So we put on gumboots to take the kids from their parents on the opposite side of the road. The smell is terrible. Some parents moved their children to other creches,” said Gcelu.
South African National Civic Organisation’s secretary in Luzuko, Nwabisa Madinga, said the whole of Luzuko was affected by blocked drains for about three years and they had reported the persistent problem to the the City of Cape Town multiple times.
She said the City of Cape Town informed them that the main problem was a sewage pipe at the pump station. The City had sent trucks to suck the sewage, but they had not fixed the problem permanently.
“We log a call, they send trucks to come and suck. But after a day or two, the drains are flooding again. So it means that there is a bigger problem,” said Madinga.
Fanele Manyisana, 78, is a street committee member for Sakwatsha Street.
He suspected the drain pipes were blocked with sand and that when it rained, the drain would overflow and sewage would be stuck to that pond.
“The pipe is no longer working inside the drain and I suspect that it is full of sand. So when it rains the water is blocked and flows to the pond,” Manyisana said.
Nombulelo Ntlahla, who stays in Luzuko Drive, said there were two drains in her garage and when it rained, the sewage spill creates a dam in her home. The house has a mould problem and she had to throw away furniture, children’s clothes and replace her carpet with tiles because it was always wet and smelled of sewage.
Mapalla Khiba stays in Umyezo Drive and her toilet is regularly blocked.
“We pour buckets of water to flush the toilet,” she said.
Mayco Member for Community Services and Health, Patricia van der Ross said the Phumlani Clinic in Philippi had seen an increase in patients and children presenting with skin rashes this week.
“However, the cause is not definitive. We are unable to provide statistics for six months at short notice,” she said.
Mayco member for Water and Sanitation Zahid Badroodien said the main cause of sewer overflows in the area was the disposal of foreign objects into the drains.
“The last four years, however, the primary cause is misuse/abuse of the sewers by local communities,” he said.
“Pump stations push the sewage from the community further down the network towards the treatment works. If the pump station cannot operate, sewage from the community eventually overflows from manholes,” said Badroodien.
He said local residents are not permitted to hire private contractors to unblock or repair overflowing municipal sewers and they were encouraged to report issues to the City.