The residents of Witpoortjie’s Marechalle Street are having a torrid time trying to get a block manhole. Its been a month since the sewage started pouring out of the manhole and residents allege the blockage occurred when the road was being repaired
According to Riaan Bowles who lives in the street, the workers on sight blocked the sewage from going into the road by using gravel.
A week later after approaching the workers about fixing the blocked manhole, he was told that they do not deal with plumbing.
Weeks have passed since the incident and there has been no response.
“We never get hold of the people in the plumbing section of the municipality and I have sent numerous emails. We previously had problems with a another manhole which took what felt like forever to repair. It’s a sewage pipe so it stinks incredibly. We have toilet paper floating, condoms and raw material. Are we part of this community or does no one care? It’s making us sick and giving us diarrhoea,” said Riaan.
Mercy Molebatsi who also lives in the street has been trying to contact Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) to notify them about the blocked manhole but with little response.
“I have been calling and following up with them everyday and it does not seem like they are interested in taking care of the problem. We have flies and mosquitos here and the smell is unbearable. What is worse is this is unhygenic and will make us sick. We cannot live like this in a residential area,” she said.
The JRA and Johannesburg Water could not be reached for comment.
