Determined members of civic movement Soil of Africa have forced City of Tshwane Department of Water and Sanitation workers to go and fix a sewerage mess in Pase 3, in the far East of Mamelodi on Wednesday.
According to Soil of Africa chairperson Bongani Ramontja, the lives of residents of Phase 3 have been turned into misery by a blocked sewerage for the past one month and two weeks and in order to resolve this matter, the residents had written a letter to the Director General of Water and Sanitation six days ago giving him 72 hours to attend to the matter, but up until today (Wednesday) he has not responded to the plight of the residents.
“We then took it upon ourselves to go to the City of Tshwane base in Waltloo and force workers who deal with sanitation matters to immediately come along with us to Phase 3 to fix the blocked sewerage,” said Ramontja.
Soil of Africa activists were accompanied by the Tshwane Metro police in their mission.
He explained that in one of the houses in the area there is a disabled child who had to be rushed to the local clinic on Wednesday after inhaling the unhygienic smell emanating from the blocked sewerage.
“We made sure that no worker knocked off until the sewerage had been fixed,” said a determined Ramontja.
He said as members of Soil of Africa and Phase 3 community, they will always hold the City of Tshwane Municipality accountable regarding service delivery matters.
He revealed that they had also written a letter to the City of Tshwane MMC for Environmental Affairs and that he too had not responded to their request to fix the blocked, stinking sewerage.
“We are saying to the City of Tshwane that it is failing the community; that it must pull up its socks and tighten its boots so as to make sure that it delivers services to the community,” he said.
Residents who spoke to Tshwane Talks expressed their heartfelt thanks to Bongani Ramontja and Soil of Africa.
An elderly woman said the unbearable foul smell emanating from the blocked sewerage was worsening the fragile health of those who suffer from chronic diseases.
“I am happy that the nightmare caused by the blocked sewerage is finally over, thanks to Bongani Ramontja and Soil of Africa civic movement,” she said.
A resident of Phase 3 admired members of Soil of Africa for their bravery and determination in forcing the City of Tshwane to unblock the smelly sewerage.
“I wish we had more caring leaders like Bongani Ramontja who are trying against all odds to serve their communities,” he said.