Spilling sewage causes havoc in Shayandima Zone 3

A street with spilling sewage at Zone 3 in Shayandima outside Thohoyandou is making life miserable for residents. For almost the whole month now, residents in the area have been complaining to the local district municipality, the water authority in the area.

All this time they have been promised that the spill will be repaired, but all these promises have borne no positive results so far. 

The street, which has become a river of sewage, has become a way of life for the residents who have to breathe contaminated air.

A resident, Mr  Eric Matodzi, the principal of Ligege Secondary School, said that the sewage was making their lives a misery as they had to leave home early in the morning and come back late at night to escape “from the stinky smell”.

He added that the problem started when the district water services staff were on strike. “We thought that things would change for the better when the strike was called off after an agreement was reached with the employer, but that was not to be. It is now three weeks after they had gone back to work, and we have lodged our complaints with the municipality on a number of occasions, but what we get are only promises, with no action being taken.”

He added that the community was tired of waiting and empty promises “but we are helpless. We do not know what to do as we always had hope and faith in our government, but things seems to be getting out of hand,” he said. Matodzi further indicated that many of the residents have fallen ill because of the unhealthy conditions and they were forced to close their windows, despite the scorching heat of the past month.

“Life is difficult for us. We elected this government to give us service, but they seem to have forgotten us and are making our lives very miserable. We need help before it is too late,” added Matodzi.

Vhembe District municipality spokesperson Mr Matodzi Ralushai confirmed they had received complaints from the residents, but the team they sent to fix the problem was allegedly intimidated by some of the residents. 

“We are still trying to confirm the allegations with the local councillor, but we can promise the residents the problem will be solved swiftly,” he said.

Date:26 November 2015

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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