over 1 000 MBIKWAKHE RESIDENTS DRINK POLLUTED WATER

MBIKWAKHE – Water is life, but a community of over 1 000 residents has been drinking water contaminated with human waste.

This has been going on for almost a year, until the populace decided to take the law into their hands.
Last Sunday, a group of about 30 youth confronted the man alleged to be behind the dumping of the filth into a stream known as Ncakamatje.

The youth of Mbikwakhe accused Kukhanyekudzeni Motsa, who owns a block of flats, of having diverted his sewer system into the stream that is used by the community.
During the confrontation, the community members vandalised the sewer system, damaging sewer pipes.

altercation

The altercation was confirmed by Motsa and one of the youth members, Astro Mdwara, yesterday.
Motsa apologised for causing problems in the community, promising to work on the matter.
Initially, Mdwara found this reporter interviewing Motsa about the allegations levelled against him by the community.

Mdwara explained that this had been ongoing for almost five years until they decided to confront Motsa.
“After realising that people were falling sick, with some losing their lives as a result of drinking the contaminated water, we resolved to do something that will force him to respond promptly,” he said.

vandalise

He said it was not their intention to vandalise the property, but to create awareness that the community was not happy, especially because they suspect some cases of diarrhoea that ended up in deaths.
However these allegations could not be confirmed.
After damaging the pipes, Mdwara said they advised Motsa to re-plumb his block of flats.
“The matter of the spillage was reported to the police. However, the intention is not  to have Motsa convicted, but to make him understand the danger faced by the community.”

damaged

Motsa, who was earlier found replacing the damaged pipes, admitted that at some point the human waste was disposed into the stream. He then showed this reporter the new pipes while explaining that the waste was now disposed into a septic tank, situated behind the flats.
“Before installing the new pipes, I used a pipe drainage system. This means that I used one pipe that linked waste drainage and sink water. The new system installed uses two different drainage systems.” 

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