Even an intervention by the local traditional leader could not solve a neighbourly dispute at Bungeni. This feud has now been going on for years, with one resident claiming that his neighbour's broken sewage pipe is literally driving him out of his house.
Maxwell Owen Manganyi claims that he had tried on numerous occasions to get his neighbour to fix a broken sewage connection. The sewage spills out of the broken pipe, into his yard, causing quite a stench.
"It is now over five years of having to endure living with solid sewage flowing into my yard. Every time I have to lock my children indoors, otherwise they will play in the sewage," laments Manganyi.
"I have approached the neighbour several times to fix the toilet or stop using the broken toilet, but she never heeds the call. My challenge is that I have no money to erect a wall to stop the sewage from flowing into my yard. This is a health hazard and is putting me and my family in danger," said Manganyi.
To make matters worse, the neighbour's house is only about three metres away from his home.
Chief Njakanjaka, the traditional leader in the area, also tried to intervene and address the situation. "I took over the chieftainship from my father in 2019 and since then I have been notified of this situation. On several occasions, I visited Manganyi's neighbour, trying to get her to stop using the broken toilet, but the neighbour has never stopped," he said.
Phineas Rikhotso, who is the ex-husband of the neighbour, told Limpopo Mirror he was not aware of the situation as he no longer stayed at the place. He promised to look into the matter, however, when he received Manganyi's contact details.
Manganyi said "a rainy day makes life very bad for me and my family as the raw sewage will easily spill into my yard".