The Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) denied allegations that they had never attended to the persistent sewage problem in the Nancefield area. According to residents, a sewage spill has been flowing along Makushu Primary School, through Nancefield, to the N1 for the past eight years and the municipality, the community members claim, still has not bothered to fix the problem.
"The allegations that the municipality has not attended to the sewage [spillage] for eight years are not accurate. The sewer line in front of the school experience blockages like any other normal sewer pipeline when foreign materials are disposed into it, but it always receives attention. The main sewer line at the back of the school was upgraded in 2020 after it got blocked due to sand that had infiltrated the pipe. Our maintenance team went out again on 29 November this year and unblocked the pipe," said the spokesperson for the VDM, Mr Matodzi Ralushai.
But when this newspaper spoke to Mr Peter Jack, chairperson of Musina To the Front organisation on 2 December, he said the sewage had not stopped flowing in years.
Ebrahim Munyai (60), who lives near the area where the sewage spills over, said he stayed indoors most of the time because of the foul smell that came from the flowing sewage, except on days when the wind blew the stench in the opposite direction. Munyai moved his children and grandchildren to Matswale, for the sake of his grandchildren's health, and now lives alone.
Munyai is only one of many Nancefield residents affected by this sewage problem.