A stinking canal in front of Gail Place in Ocean View is giving residents a headache.
They say the Bokmanspruit canal in front of the flats on Hydra Avenue has sand traps but is usually filled with vullis.
Currently, there’s barely a trickle of water due to the blockage while the smell and accompanying insects are wreaking havoc.
Residents say they’ve tried to get the City of Cape Town to maintain the canal for the past two years but this only gets done once in a while and only if they complain adding that “they don't even do it properly”.
“They just clean a small portion and leave the rest of the river in the same condition. We can't live like this," says Claudine Wooward.
"We’ve been reporting this to the City of Cape Town but all we hear are lies, and we get no solid response," she explains.
Another resident, Evelyn Deelie, says: "The smell is terrible, I can't even open my windows and I have a baby in the house. We are gatvol, the council does nothing about it."
Mayco member for Water and Waste, Xanthea Limberg, says the canal was cleaned last month on 29 March.
She says the stockpiles are usually removed a few days later as it first needs to dry out.
“The sand traps are cleaned periodically to prevent the contamination of downstream areas, and also to prevent blockages and obstructions within the City’s stormwater systems.”
Residents said yesterday although the vullis was removed, dirt is already starting to pile up in the canal.
“The City just collected rubbish and left everything the same,” says Claudine.