A Cambridge  location woman has had a nightmare battle with sewage overflowing into her home for the past two weeks.
Mandisa Buzani of Mdayi Street said a sewage pump, which is located inside her yard, burst and ever since sewage has been spilling into her house in Phase 1.
“The situation has been like this for years. It bursts, I report it to the municipality; they come and fix it once every six months or so, only for it to burst again. Our councillor has never been here to investigate the problem.”
The piece of land on which the pump is situated has been the subject of a long dispute, with BCM saying the Mdayi Street property was extended to encompass the land on which the pump is built. Property owner Ponny Makubalo denies this.
BCM had not responded to questions by print deadline.
When the Daily Dispatch visited the unemployed mother of two yesterday, she showed the team her faeces-strewn back yard. BCM workers were on site trying to fix the pump.
“I used to live in a shack and I thought my life would be better when I moved into a house. Things have been worse.”
The situation poses a heath hazard to her two children, aged three and 13.
“It is unacceptable – my children get sick.
“My three-year-old is covered in sores and has diarrhoea because they play in the yard.”
“We can’t enjoy food in the house. We have to go to another area when we want to eat.
“My 13-year-old has lost his appetite and sometimes lives with his grandmother.
“I spend most of the day at a friend’s place. The smell is unbearable at night and in the morning. We have to put clothes under the door and windows to prevent the smell from coming inside the house.”
She said the sewage pump stops operating whenever the power goes out in the area.
“They tell us this is caused by illegal electricity connections. The municipality must fix the problem or come and check up on it every week. It’s been like this for 10 days now. My toilet does not work anymore because of this pump station.”
Without a toilet, the family have to pay R100 a month to use their neighbour’s facilities.
“I don’t have the money for this – I depend on my children’s grant and piece jobs that I do around this community.”
Neighbour Miliswa Mathayo, 36, echoed this: “Sewage seeps into our property. The dampness brings mosquitoes which also carry disease. My sister left to live in a rural area because she could not handle this anymore.”
Mathayo, who has lived in the township her whole life, said the pump should not even have been built there.
Ward councillor Mzukisi Relu said he had not been made aware of the problem.
“The overflowing of the sewer station does not necessarily need a councillor’s attention unless, after being reported, no progress is seen.
“This matter, however, has never been brought to my attention, whether by the lady or the ward committee or the community committee with whom I sit in meetings,” he said...