7 August 2024
Ward committee member Basani Ngoveni with resident Nkhesani Hobyane from Mingard village in Limpopo, standing where sewage is spilling into Hobyane’s yard. Photo: Thembi Siaga
For over a decade, residents of Mingard village in Elim in Limpopo have been struggling with the foul odour from spills of raw sewage flowing into their yards. Suddenly, a day after GroundUp contacted the municipality to ask for comment on the issue, workers were sent to fix the sewerage network.
Residents of Mingard village, about 20km from Louis Trichardt, say they have been complaining for years about blockages, overflows and breakdowns in the sewerage system which lead to raw sewage in their streets and the yards of their homes.
They say though Vhembe District Municipality has sometimes sent workers to fix the problem, it always recurs.
GroundUp visited the village on 31 July. Sewage was running into several homes and yards.
We sent questions to Vhembe District Municipality spokesperson Matodzi Ralushai, and the next day, 1 August 2024, workers from the municipality were in the village working on the sewer system.
Residents said they had had to stay indoors because of the smell.
“We cannot enjoy ourselves at home or eat food in peace,” said 74-year-old Nkhesani Hobyane.
“We have not been enjoying our lives for years because of the bad smell,” said Robert Sinoamadi. “Sometimes we even see waste such as used condoms in our yards.”
Ward committee member Basani Ngoveni said several letters had been sent to the municipality, but the workers who came to fix the issue only provided temporary solutions.
Ralushai blamed the problem on damaged sewer pipelines. He said fats from shops in the nearby Elim Mall were being discharged into the sewage pipes and maintenance teams unblocked the lines when needed.
Elim Mall’s manager, Mpho Madadzhe, denied the municipality’s claims. “How does the municipality determine that we are the cause of the problem?” she said.