Cape Town - Frustrated Scottsville residents have slammed the City’s water and waste department for allegedly doing a shoddy job at repairing and servicing their broken sewer systems that keep on flooding their homes with stinky sewer water.
The residents said their drains and toilets have flooded their homes on four different occasions, damaging not only their homes but ruining their furniture as well.
One of the residents in the area, Emily Jansen, who has cancer and is currently on treatment said the situation had gotten out of hand as vulnerable residents had been left exposed to different illnesses and infections because of the City’s slow reaction.
“I’m on chemotherapy and have to use the toilet regularly but because it’s blocked I couldn’t. I had to go over the street to use someone else’s and during this time of Covid-19 that’s not the best thing for me to do. I can’t afford to get sick, yet I’m left with no choice.
“It’s not only that, I had to ask someone to help me clear up the mess in the house because the City responds to us so late. However, even that doesn’t make much of a difference because the toilet keeps filling up and more water flows out and damages my things. It’s a frustrating situation and I wish the City would think of people like us for a change.”
Resident Wilma Daniels said: “Personally this is the third time my home has been flooded with sewage. Stinky water that has destroyed my furniture and appliances, I don’t understand how every time we can be sitting with the same issue.
“I’ll be laying my second claim with the City for damaged property although nothing came of the first one. I don’t know what to do, we couldn’t even be in our home yesterday and had to spend the day outside waiting as always for the City to think of us last.”
Meanwhile, the area’s councillor Brenda Hansen said that City services were working overtime to assist all areas affected by the sporadic floods.
She said: “Unfortunately Scottsville isn’t the only area where there was sewage flooding, in Belmont Park the entire area was flooded and I know that all teams are working hard to tend to all areas affected.
“When the residents called me yesterday morning, I was concerned why they had waited and not called me when the flooding began, I would have been able to assist them. The department is flooded with service requests, however, had I known about them I would have tried my best to assist them,” said Hansen.
Community activist Henry Franke said: “While we understand that we are not the only community sitting with this problem, it's also unfair that we are made to wait for assistance when the City has resources to assist.
“If all teams are booked then why can’t they outsource, people should come first. Property and furniture have been damaged, people are living in soiled water. It's unjust and something needs to change. This is not the first time. What is the City doing to make sure that it is the last?”
In response to whether the Department of Water and Waste is working on a possible permanent intervention, Mayco Member for Waste and Water Xanthea Limberg said: “Several factors are causing sewer overflows in the area. Illegal connections to the Bloekombos and Wallacedene pump stations, land invasions, with structures blocking infrastructure access points to clear blockages, and heavy rains.
“We are continuously working to minimise the impact of these obstructive land invasions on surrounding communities, but sewer spills are a symptom of a complex social matter. Meaningful resolution can only be achieved when human settlements challenges are addressed,” she said.