Residents of Tshikota, who had complained to the Vhembe District Municipality for nearly nine years about a dysfunctional sewer system, smiled with relief after the municipality finally fixed the problem.
A month ago, Ms Iris Mogoro wanted to lay charges against the municipality after they had failed to attend to the problem for years, but now she can sigh with relief. Last week she told Limpopo Mirror that she was a happier woman.
"We are now into the second week since they had fixed the problem and (we believe) they had fixed it to the satisfaction of our hearts as residents here," she said. "Just image staying with faeces in your yard and in front of your house in the street for over eight years. It was a serious problem to us. Now we thank the municipality for finally acknowledging us to be human beings."
She added that the workers who fixed the sewerage system had left some pipes behind her house. They said that they still wanted to remove the old small pipes and replace them with bigger ones. "They said that the small pipes might be contributing to the problem," she said.
Another resident, Ms Belinda Modike, said that reporting a dysfunctional sewer system to the municipality should not be a waste of time.
"They must try and address reported cases with immediate effect," she said. "We can't stay with faeces in our yards and along our streets and still say that we have a caring, responsive municipality. They have so far only fixed the mainline sewer system on our side, promising to come again to fix the other pipes that still continue to release faecal liquids into my yard just behind the house."
She said the smell that came from any sewage spilling into the streets of Tshikota was so strong that it reached her in the confines of her house or car. "We were no longer enjoying staying and living in our households, because we had to remain indoors all the time," she said. "They must come and fix the remaining part, though."
The Vhembe District Municipality's water superintendent in the Makhado area, Mr David Mukosi, said that he would send the workers to assess and monitor the work that had been done. "We want to see all sewerage problems addressed as it is our duty to serve all people within our communities," he said. "We will surely attend to the outstanding problem."