The courts have stepped in to defend a mother who has had to live in sewage for three years.
East London high court judge Belinda Hartle has ordered the metro to fix a sewage pump station abutting Mandisa Buzani’s home in Cambridge township’s Mdayi Street.
The unemployed Buzani has been knocking on official doors for three years trying to get the mess cleaned up.
Buzani, with the support of the Nahoon Estuary Management Forum, brought the application through Niehaus Mcmahon Attorneys’ Brandon Blignaut.
The judge has ordered BCM to cordon off the pump station and to clean and disinfect the surrounding area.
The Dispatch reported in June 2018 that sewage from the pump had been spilling into her home. Buzani would report it and it would be fixed — only for it to fail again, sending another foul torrent into her property.
Speaking to the Dispatch on Tuesday, Buzani said she would believe in the remedial action and cleanup when she saw it.
“Let’s see when they [BCM] do what they’ve been instructed to do.
“It’s dirty and it’s pouring out — I’m breathing that sewage stench as we speak.” She said the court had given BCM six to eight weeks to fix the problem.
“My fear is that nothing will be done. My children will continue to be covered in sores.
“My youngest has breathing problems which the clinic attributes to the sewage spill. We go to sleep and wake up breathing the smell.”
Christo Theart, who chairs the Nahoon Estuary Management Forum, said the sewage ended up in the Nahoon River and affected many people. In January, the forum warned the spill was causing severe human and environmental harm.
My fear is that nothing will be done. My children will continue to be covered in sores