Learners and teachers at ACJ Phakade Primary School and the surrounding community are facing a health hazard, blocked drainage with a continuous unbearable stench!
A section of Mxolisi Street, outside the school premises, is filled with stagnant water, making it extremely difficult for learners and teachers to access the school and for some residents to enter their homes.
According to residents, the problem has been ongoing for nearly three years.
When City Vision visited the area at least two drains were blocked and a section of the street was covered with raw sewage.
Residents lined-up against the school fence to cross the road, avoiding contact with the sewage.
Michael Sikuni, the School Governing Body (SGB) chair, described the street as a mess. He said the situation had been this way for over three years. “This is uncalled for. The City needs to do something about the dirt. Our children’s lives are in danger. We have children as young as six years old, in Grade R, who must jump over human waste daily. To show the sewage has been here for a while here, the street has grass.”
Sikuni said it is suspected the establishment of the Robben Island informal settlement in the pond has contributed immensely to the blockage. “Robben Island was built in the pond. When it is raining the water gets stuck on the road because people have blocked the pond and have even put sand down to block or redirect the flow of the water. Sometimes the drain bursts here in the street and the sewage also gets stuck here. The City is aware of the situation in the street but we don’t know what its plans are.”
He added that the City had relocated some of the shacks last year and that it would re-open the pond, yet so far nothing had happened.
Sikuni said early last year two learners of the school were electrocuted while trying to cross the sewage-strewn effluents.
“Robben Island doesn’t have electricity because it is in the pond. So residents there are using illegal electricity connections.
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“It was after school, and the learners were on their way home when some of them, in trying to jump over the dirty water, touched one of the shacks that had electric wires against it and they died on the spot, right there and then.”
Carl Pophaim, Mayco member for human settlements, said the City’s Informal Settlement Management (ISM) Department was aware of the challenges affecting residents in parts of Nomzamo.
He said the core issue is that two structures were erected on top of the sewer line, preventing City teams from accessing the infrastructure to carry out essential work and repairs.
“This has resulted in significant difficulties for many residents of the area. The priority now is to relocate the structures obstructing the repair work.
“The City’s ISM Department is currently identifying a suitable relocation area so that the necessary interventions can begin.”
Mayco member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien said illegal dumping of foreign objects had been identified as the primary cause of recurring blockages in the vicinity of the school.
He cited the encroachment of informal structures over sewer services and illegal disposal of building rubble into municipal manholes.
“Informal settlements have been constructed directly over the sewer infrastructure, severely limiting access for maintenance and emergency interventions. Based on trends observed across similar encroachments citywide, it’s likely that foreign objects are being disposed of into the sewer network by occupants of these structures, resulting in frequent upstream obstructions.
“Operational teams have confirmed that substantial quantities of building rubble are dumped into the sewer manhole adjacent to ACJ Phakade School.”
