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Rendani Mudau and residents from the Eltivillas neighbourhood in Louis Trichard are very relieved that the dysfunctional sewer system has finally been repaired. Photo: Kaizer Nengovhela.

Eltivillas residents can finally breathe clean air again

 

Although Eltivillas residents in Louis Trichardt can finally breathe in clean, fresh air again now that the dysfunctional sewer system in their area - which had made their lives unbearable for so long – has been repaired, residents do not seem overly impressed by the Vhembe District Municipality’s delayed efforts.

Their ordeal started more than a decade ago when the main sewer pipeline between Roshni and Bengal Streets in Eltivillas burst and overflowed straight into the residential area. All this time, residents have had to live with the terrible stench of raw sewage, mixed with the sound of swarming mosquitoes, and serious concerns about their health.

The situation had reached a point where lodgers at a house in the area had to vacate their rooms because of the smell, and parents did not dare let their children play outside anymore, as human faeces was floating down the streets.

Mr Rendani Mudau could not express his relief. “I use this road on a daily basis and was forced to use an alternative route because of the spillage flowing down the road. I had to re-calculate my morning schedule in order to get to work on time, and this inconvenienced me greatly. I’m really glad that this mess had been fixed at last. My only concern is that it took the municipality this long to repair a pipe that is practically on their doorstep,” Mudau said.

Spokesperson for the Vhembe District Municipality Mr Matodzi Ralushai, said that the moment they had received the complaint, it had been reported to their technical department, who had dispatched a team to repair the pipeline. “We are a caring government and cannot allow a situation where our people suffer. We are extremely happy that their problem has been solved,” he said.

Another resident, Adv Vhutshilo Phuravhathu, said that reporting a dysfunctional sewer system to the municipality should not be a waste of the community’s time. “They must try and address reported cases immediately,” he said. “How can we be forced to live with faeces floating around our yards and along our streets for over 10 years, and still say that we have a ‘caring’, responsive municipality?” he asked.

“We didn’t even enjoy living at our houses anymore because we had to stay indoors all the time. Yes, we are happy that they fixed the problem, and it had been fixed satisfactorily,” he said. “But this was a serious problem to us, which had been ignored by the municipality for years. Should we now thank them for finally acknowledging us as human beings?”

 

 

Date:30 July 2021

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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