Flood of raw sewage makes Duncan Village residents’ lives a misery
Raw sewage has been spewing down Bashe Street in Duncan Village, contaminating multiple homes in a domino effect of blockages and effluent overflow.
Neighbours are living with three major leaks and clogged pipes pushing chunky contaminants up drainpipes and flooding bathrooms.
Resident Zoe Ngqisha, 72, said the leaks on Bashe Street had been getting worse since November 2023.
“It’s been six months living like this,” Ngqisha said.
“Children walking to school get splashed by cars driving on the road.
“The main sewer line is the problem.
“We’ve seen everything, even disposable nappies.”
Ngqisha said that on Saturday a group of men had surveyed the leak and claimed to be from a construction company sent by the municipality.
“We asked what they were doing and they said they were going to be digging in front of the house where the major sewage leak is coming from to reach the pipe underneath to get the size of it so they know which pipes to purchase to fix it.”
The Dispatch visited the road on Friday morning and saw hazardous human waste, toilet paper and sanitary items pouring from the backyard of a home and into a storm drain.
Cars sped down the lane and had to be flagged to slow down otherwise pedestrians would be splashed by the waste.
Stray dogs sniffed at and attempted to drink the runoff.
Where pensioner Blossom Xonti, 75, lives at the back of a home, an outside drain was blocked and overflowing into a river that wound around the house and onto the street.
Xonti, wearing grey slippers, shuffled across two wooden pallets as a makeshift bridge over the wastewater between buildings to the source of one leak.
Green algal blooms covered the liquid pathway, an indicator of high concentrations of nitrates and phosphates.
“This has been since last year. Christmas time, Easter time, we have been living with this mess,” she said.
“It’s hard to do washing, we have to ask our neighbours if we can use their toilet.
“What about the children living here? Long ago we went to the municipality and they say ‘We are coming tomorrow’, but they never have.”
Xonti had large scabbing wounds on her ankle, which she said were due to the pollutants.
“This started’ as a small pimple, but now it s this.
“The children get upset stomachs.
“It’s uncomfortable. When you go somewhere you wish you don’t have to come back.”
Neighbour Monica Langa, 60, said the sewage had been blocking the pipes in her home for a year. Outside her kitchen door was a blocked drain.
“It comes up from the pipes. We have to take a bucket and clean it out.
“There are 10 of us staying here. The youngest is six years old and she is asthmatic.
“The drain is right next to the kitchen. We have to keep everything closed all the time. We’ve had everything come up, even a mop [head].”
Daughter Nolusindiso Langa, 36, said she and her mother had to manually unblock the drain multiple times a day.
“It used to come out in the shower, the sink and the toilet when it starts overflowing straight out the pipes,” Nolusindiso said.
“More than three times every day we have to clean and unclog it. You must prepare yourself for the k*k that’s going to come out there.”
Across the road, homeowner Goodman Ndevu, 64, said the problem was made worse by neighbours building on to their properties without approved plans.
“A big house was built last year, and since they built it we have had this problem.
“It’s very suspicious. We think it’s a shebeen because no one comes during the day.
“This house wasn’t built with proper planning.”
ANC ward councillor Kuhle Ciliza said the issue was due to unregulated construction on two properties on the street.
“What is happening is that people are building on top of the pipes.”
She said the municipality could not attend to the problem until the illegal buildings were torn down.
“Somebody from the municipality’s infrastructure department told them they need to remove the shacks.
“The community needs to come together if one community member can’t comply.”
BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said the metro apologised to residents.
“The matter has been reported to the water and sanitation department for fixing,” he said.
He said there were various factors leading to spillages in this area.
“Vandalism stealing manhole covers paving the way to the throwing of foreign objects in the sewer system, which leads to blocking and overflowing.
He added that load-shedding was another contributing factor, as well as the area’s high population density.
“We have taken great strides in improving the sewerage system including installing modern features.”