A stone’s throw away from the infamous sewerage swamp in Eltivillas, houses are being erected and occupied. So far, no problems have been experienced by some of the occupants, except for a stench at times.

Mr James and Ms Kate Mwale moved into Delhi Street, Eltivillas, three months ago. The property that they rent is a few hundred metres away from the sewerage swamp that forms in the natural wetland, in particular when the Eltivillas pump station is out of order. Unfortunately, even when the pump is working, the sewerage is merely pumped into other areas since the sewerage farm or waste water treatment works of Louis Trichardt are not in proper working order.

“Sometimes it is stinking. It was bad in December. When the wind comes from that side, we smell it,” said Mr Mwale on 12 February. “Otherwise, the water is good. We have always had water. We haven’t experienced anything bad. The sewerage is connected and working.”

Ms Mwale said that she was aware of the health dangers of raw sewerage. “We can get a stomach bug. If the water gets dirty, it could be dangerous, especially if children go and play there. My children mostly keep to the house. We don’t know how safe we are, but since we arrived here, we have had no problems.”

Ms Mwale is, however, concerned about the people erecting new houses near the sewerage swamp. “The municipality must work on that,” Ms Mwale said.

At Eltivillas Extension 1, a couple of houses are in the process of being erected on stands that form part of the 152 stands that were auctioned by the Makhado Municipality in May 2008. Some of these stands are within metres of the swamp. The objection by the Soutpansberg Ratepayers Association to prevent the auctioning until proper services could be guaranteed was not upheld.

A plumber working at two sites in Roshni Street, which apparently forms part of Extension 1, said that water has been available outside at the water meter since December last year. “I still have to do the piping for both water and sewerage, and then I will call the municipality to connect. I am still looking for the main pipe of the sewerage. I don’t foresee any problems,” the plumber said.

The people watching the building site across the street said that they had no water and they used the bushes for their toilet.

Mr Louis Bobodi, spokesperson for the Makhado Municipality, said that all the required services for Extension 1 were in place. Bobodi provided no answers to the question about the health risk and the sewerage swamp close to Extension 1.

“The sewerage pump station adjacent to Extension 1 has been out of order on and off for the past four years. Two or three times the pump had been repaired at great cost. Whenever the pump station is out of order, the natural wetland becomes a sewerage dam. The situation worsens when it rains and the sewerage water overflows. A sewerage river flowed from there and reached the road in December last year. The polluted water will eventually reach the Albasini dam,” said Mr Herman Smith of the Soutpansberg Ratepayers Association. Another concern that Smith raised was that raw sewerage ran into the recently laid pipes.

It is expected that the Makhado Municipality and the Vhembe District Municipality will meet within a week or so to discuss the sewerage problems of Louis Trichardt.