By Sandra Zinaka and Melisa Munzvandi
RESIDENTS of Tshitaudze Surburb in Beitbridge are grappling with broken sewer systems spewing raw waste through their houses in unhygienic opencast sewage networks in their area.
Their plight has been for decades.
Residents said that while everything looks normal on the surface, a closer look reveals a constant stream of sewage flowing through drainage channels day in and day out.
Beitbridge town clerk Loud Ramakgapola said he was sending his team to solve the problem.
“We are going to engage our team that deals with road to remove silt and rubbish. The problem with sewer blockage is more with the people so we need to run awareness campaigns. To prevent budgets for machinery needs to be put in place”, Said Ramakgapola .
Ramakgapola further said the residents are at fault because they do not report this incidents in time .
Residents say the drainage lines repeatedly burst, with waste flowing through open trenches before drying up, only for the cycle to resume.
On site, open drainage channels containing stagnant sewage and large amounts of rubbish are visible.
In an interview with Ziyah News Network, Brendon Dube, one of the local residents, said raw sewage has been constantly flowing towards his house over the past years.
“The sewage continuously bursts in the Tshitaudze area. It bursts, gets neglected, dries up and then continues to flow towards my house,” said Dube.
Some said they have reported the crisis to Beitbridge Town Council officials several times, but little effort has been made to address the issue.
Residents are also frustrated by council workers allegedly focus on the point where sewage bursts out, rather than clearing blocked areas further along the drainage system.
They also feel a complete overhaul is the permanent solution.
“They only service the areas where the sewage has burst, not the place where it flows to, which is blocked,” one resident said.
The dire situation has raised concerns about sanitation and the well-being of several local resident nearby.
The foul smell from the sewer makes cooking and eating uncomfortable.
Dube also said that municipality officials have previously used chemicals intended to reduce the smell. However, this did not provide a long-term solution.
“We ask them to fix the issue, but it now looks like we are fighting with them,” Dube said.
The sewage crisis is not only an inconvenience but also raises