Life has become a living hell for Elim residents who are forced to watch their step in their own homes as a stinky sludge of sewage flows all the way from an overflowing manhole at Elim Mall into their houses.
Residents blame the municipality for not sending someone to fix the sewer pipes when they reported the problem nearly four weeks ago, and now it has become almost impossible to even breathe in the village. At least four houses next to the burst manhole are so badly affected that the owners must constantly mop up the filthy slop from their floors and bathrooms in an attempt to avoid viruses and bacteria.
Mr Fredrick Lowani explained that his house is wet, cold and smelly. "I cannot bear to look at the faeces floating up in the dirty water from the underground pipes. My furniture is damaged," he said.
According to Lowani, this is not the first time that the manhole overflows. "It has been going on for at least five years now, and every once in a while, sewage spills out and then the municipality has to come to unblock the pipes. But this time it is worse than ever. I wish the municipality would just tell us what is happening because we are tired of living like pigs," he said. "I have sinus and I do not enjoy my food anymore because of the stink in my house. I have to sit outside to eat to avoid getting nauseous," he said.
Another resident, Ms Khensani Mahlaule, said that she could not stop gagging and held her nose because of the terrible stench. "It's difficult to breathe. No-one can eat because the smell is so strong. We scoop human faeces out of our houses with our bare hands!" Mahlaule said that she had contacted the municipality about the problem many times. The municipality's officials apparently promise her that they will come to fix it every time, but then no-one shows up.
"The municipality doesn't care about our health, and my health is at risk now. I can't even open the windows; this terrible smell is everywhere – inside and outside. My children cannot play outside because of the human waste floating around, and it's not good for their health either. Some of the residents have already fallen ill because of these unhealthy conditions."
Mahlaule said that they were tired of waiting for the municipality to fulfil their empty promises, "but we are helpless. We don't know what to do anymore. We always had hope and faith in our government, but things seem to be getting worse by the day. Life is difficult for us. We elected this government to make sure we get services, but they seem to have forgotten about us, making our lives miserable. We need help before it is too late."
Vhembe District Municipality's spokesperson Mr Matodzi Ralushai confirmed they had received complaints from the residents but claimed that the team they had sent out to fix the problem had allegedly been intimidated by some of the residents.