Manenberg residents are gatvol of living in poo water for over a month despite calls to the City of Cape Town to fix their overflowing drains.
Raymond Jacobs, 52, says mense are getting naar and young children falling ill as they are forced to walk in the vuil water to cross the street.
“It has been going on for more than a month now and we phone and get reference numbers and beg for something to be done,” he says.
“We call and message the councillors continuously with almost no action. I mean, why must we live like dogs?
“The other day I made a video of a child playing in the water, that is how bad it is.
“The water just flows and flows. They bring trucks in one day and the next day it is the same thing. All we are asking is that they investigate why the problem is recurring.”
The City’s Xanthea Limberg says gang violence makes it difficult for the City to deliver services in Manenberg.
“Although teams are sent into the area on a daily basis, they often have to be withdrawn due to shooting and other safety concerns. Our staff have been robbed at gunpoint several times,” she said.
She said to prevent the service delivery backlog, a “quick-in, quick-out” exercise was carried out on Saturday morning.
She said in Scheldt Street, a blockage was cleared on Monday night and teams are currently in the area clearing a blockage in Thames Road which
is also affecting Scheldt Street.
“Important to remember is that blockages are caused by misuse of the sewer system,” she added.
But Jacobs says gang violence is a “k@k excuse”.
“That is always what they say when it comes to Manenberg to marginalise us when there has not been shooting here for almost four weeks.”
Police sources confirm the last shooting in this section of Manenberg was on 11 September.
IRK: Raymond Jacobs