Hawkers selling their wares at stalls behind the taxi rank at the Shoprite complex in Louis Trichardt are dissatisfied with the seeming inability of the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) to fix the problem of an overflowing sewer. The overflow from the blocked sewer has been flowing right in front of their food stalls since January this year.
The vendors are complaining that they are steadily losing the few customers they have left because of the terrible stink and sight of sewage. When the newspaper visited the bus rank on Sunday, 25 July, raw sewage was indeed flowing no more than a metre from the hawkers' stalls. Several of the hawkers were wearing face masks, fearing that their health could be affected by the smelly, running sewage.
On Thursday, 27 July, the VDM sent workers to fix the sewer, but the hawkers were not convinced that the problem had been fixed. "We have been complaining to the VDM since January, but they fail to fix the sewer permanently. Every time they come to fix it, the sewage starts flowing again by the end of the same day. This is the only source of income for these hawkers, and losing customers over this sewer problem greatly affects them," said Mr Michael Patel, the chairperson of the hawkers' committee in the CBD.
"I pay R474 a month for a bus ticket from Nzhelele to Louis Trichardt, but at the end of the day, I do not make any sales. This is really frustrating for us. Since January, we have been losing business because of the running sewage," said Ms Norah Ndou, who has been selling fruit and vegetables at the bus rank since 1993.
Ms Phumudzo Mungomeni, also from Nzhelele, told this newspaper that she had already lost nearly all her customers. "Today is too much. I cannot continue selling my fruits. Very soon I am leaving for home," she said.
VDM spokesperson Mr. Matodzi Ralushai said the municipality was aware of the sewer challenges in Louis Trichardt's CBD and Tshikota and that they were attending to them. "The sewer challenges at the bus rank are the result of foreign materials and fats that are disposed into the sewer line, mostly from the new Boxer store and new ablution facilities constructed at the bus rank. The municipality has plans to upgrade the main line from 160mm to a 200mm sewer pipe to limit the overflows. The upgrade will be done before the end of next month," said Ralushai.