Fifteen households in Roodepan near Kimberley, Northern Cape, are flooded with raw sewage and residents are desperate for help. The worst affected is a widow whose home is also surrounded by sewage.
Audrey Damon’s family has been living in unhygienic conditions for almost two decades. Her case is not isolated as sewage is also flowing onto many streets of Galeshewe township.
Damon says her efforts to get help from the authorities have not yielded any positive results.
“I am very angry really about these things that are happening in this house. I’m not even working and my husband passed away 10 years ago. For the past 20 years, they said nothing. Look MEC Alvin Botes and nothing was done about the situation.”
Meanwhile, the local ward councillor, Pauline Tjipos, says she has informed the relevant authorities about the problem but they’ve done nothing to address it.
“I mean this lady has been having this problem for many years and as she has been complaining, nobody is helping her. So I took it upon myself to assist her. I’ve been screaming and screaming I don’t get any help.”
-Reporting by Motlalepule Morake
