Toilet breakdown in Masiphumelele
“It’s like my house is a toilet” says resident
Since May, residents of TR section in Makhaya Ngoku, an informal settlement in Masiphumelele, have been living with blocked toilets and a terrible stench.
Resident Vuyo Tshongweni has sewage water flowing right in front of his house. He says for months he has been reporting the matter to the City. Tshongweni has a garden where he plants his vegetables and says sometimes the sewage water gets into his garden and home.
“Every time I report these toilets, calling and sending SMSs. Even when I see a municipality car from the City, I call them. They come and fix them. After two days, they’re back to being blocked again,” he said.
“They add more people, but do not add resources. We were supposed to be four families per toilet … There are not enough toilets,” said Tshongweni.
In his area, out of 16 toilets, only four are working.
Another resident, Andrew Variso, used to share a toilet with 15 households. That toilet has also stopped working.
“If you do not use toilets when you are at work, then you have to use the bush. How can 15 families use one tap and one toilet? It’s not right,” said Variso.
His neighbour, Nosihle Mashiya, complains she can smell the sewage from inside her home.
“There is no escaping this … It’s like my house is a toilet. It is not a way to live, but what can we do?” said Mashiya.
Her house is located directly opposite the blocked toilet. Her child has a rash; she doesn’t know whether or not it is caused by the sewage.
Councillor Benedicta van Minnen, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, said field officers from the City’s Human Settlements Directorate had visited the area and that the City would be engaging various stakeholders to determine a way forward.
Next: Medical lawsuits threaten to derail the health system
Previous: Stampede for securitisation of UCT clouds logical argument
© 2016 GroundUp. 
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and GroundUp, and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.