MAKHADO (LOUIS TRICHARDT) - Danger awaits little Prince Ramabulana at his doorstep. Sewerage water has been spilling over the iron lid of a nearby man hole for the past five months.

A beautiful eight-month-old baby is confined to a small room because his mother is worried that he will play in the polluted water. Her fear is justified, for once near the water, it does not take the baby long to reach out to play with something in the filthy water.

Ms Thobeka Mphafa resides in the servant’s quarters at the back of an industrial building in Kort Street. She says that the manhole has been brimming over since she moved in a few months ago. She keeps little Prince inside the room for fear of the health hazard lurking less than two meters from her doorstep.

“I love my baby. This is not good. If he comes near this, he will get sick,” Ms Mphafa says.

The baby’s father, Mr Prince Ramabulana, discussed the situation with his employers, Mr and Ms Boet and Ann Stolk. They have reported the situation telephonically to the Makhado Municipality numerous times.

“We always get a promise, but so far no one has come out,” Ann said on Tuesday. Young Prince can already stand and crawl around. What will happen when he starts running around? Will his mother still have to confine him to one room?

Another employee, Mr Obed Mudzunga, said that the smell is very bad at times, especially early in the mornings. He confirmed that the manhole has been running over ever since the business had moved to the current premises at the end of November 2004.

Besides the health hazard to the family staying on the premises, it bothers Mr Stolk that the sewerage overflow runs into a dam in the open veld west of Kort Street and north of Malherbe Street. The water has a weird, light green colour. He himself could have dug a trench at the manhole long ago, but what about the water running into the wetland and eventually polluting the town’s drinking water?

The plight of the baby living near the manhole grabbed the attention of the relevant authorities when they were asked for comment on the situation. That very evening a team came out to the site to investigate. Early Wednesday morning workers form the Department of Technical Services of Makhado Municipality continued to attempt solving the problem. Mr Stolk said that the technicians could not as yet get the drain open to see the cause of the blockage. He was promised that they would come with a machine as soon as it becomes available.

“As long as the problem gets solved, we’ll be satisfied,” he said.

The possibility of sewerage overflow reaching the underground watertable is still a concern of Mr Stolk and many others. Concerns about sewerage collecting in unplanned sewerage dams in lowlands have been raised every so often over the past few years. Furthermore, some industries are compelled to function amid foul odours and regular floods of sewerage. When an outbreak of gastro enteritis occurred in March this year, residents felt inclined to believe that all the problems are connected to the inability of Council to maintain a proper sewerage system.

Biologists showed that a wetland can be a positive system with its bio-diversity, but even that system can only handle a reasonable amount of sewerage and foreign substances. The strange light green colour of the wetland near Kort Street gives the impression of paint floating on top of the water and appears like chemical substances in the dam.

Mr Masindi Mapholi, Director Technical Services of Makhado Municipality, who was responsible for the swift reaction when he learnt about the problem of the Ramabulana baby, was not allowed to comment on the situation. The office of Mr Peter Magwala, Director Corporate Services, responsible for liaising with the press, said that a response would be forthcoming.