My home has been flooding for the past five years due to rainfall, and nobody has attended to or given any attention to this problem.
I have children, and the water flooding the house is so severe that they can’t even attend school some days.
I live at 12 Copper Street in Somerset West. Over the past five years, I have lost everything – my furniture, my beds, my bedding – every year due to the flooding.
My children are constantly getting sick, and the living conditions are becoming unbearable.
I have spoken to community leaders as well as the ward councillor, Norman McFarlane, regarding my problem, and he keeps giving me excuses that don’t address my concerns. According to one of the community leaders, McFarlane told them that he doesn’t have the funds or budget allocated for this matter. He doesn’t even care enough to come out and see my living conditions, which makes me feel as though he doesn’t care. I feel the DA has let me down. They are not protecting my basic rights nor that of my children.
I don’t have the necessary funds or means to address my problem, and I have no support from community leaders.
I feel they could have done more for my family by seeking donations or assistance, or even taking this matter to the media.
Henry Brown,
Councillor Rob Quintas, Mayoral Committee member for Urban Mobility, responds: “The City is aware of the ongoing matter regarding overflowing sewers.
“The problem is that the owners of the Chris Nissen Park properties abutting the public open space (POS) and railway reserve extended their boundary walls over the boundary and filled in the canal inside the POS. All the refuse is also coming through the boundary walls.
“The access from Copper Street is also blocked by the illegal occupation by the owner of an adjacent property preventing access from the City’s internal roads. The old Spoornet maintenance road is also not accessible due to the road being blocked by a cattle kraal built by one of the residents behind the aforementioned house on Copper Street. The ditch must be cleaned using mechanical equipment but the same people flooded by sewerage and stormwater are also preventing maintenance by illegally occupying the POS. It is not possible for the City’s equipment to drive over the railway tracks as it is not allowed by Transnet.
“The City has had several meetings with the community and Councillor McFarlane. The community is not responsive and despite promises of providing access, it has not been possible to access the stormwater canal.
“At a recent meeting, the various options were discussed, and the community leaders said they will contact Councillor McFarlane and our roads infrastructure management offices as soon as they created an access route.”
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