THEY have been asking the municipality to fix sewage problem in their area for almost two years.
So when nothing happened, residents of Carolina in Mpumalanga rolled up their sleeves and did it themselves. And using their own household equipment, a small group of residents got stuck into the problem and were later joined by others on Sunday, 16 January.
Community leader, Makhaza Ntuli (42) said they had been struggling with the sewage issue and blockages for years. He said the municipality had been dragging its feet to fix the problem, even after several marches to the municipality.
“We took a decision to fix this problem with the limited resources and material we have because at the end of the day, we are the ones suffering. This is to protect us and our children from diseases. Many households have been directly affected by this and we thought we should join hands and help each other as the municipality doesn’t have an interest in our communities.”
Makhaza said the sewage causes more damage whenever it rains. He said the spill moves to the whole area and is a health hazard.
Another community leader, Simon Veldman said they were tired of the stench and kak in their kasi.
He said the roads had also been damaged.
Predictably, councillor Dumisani Jele didn’t want to speak and referred Daily Sun to the Chief Albert Luthuli Municipality’s spokesperson, whose phone was off at the time of going to print.
