In Johannesburg, residents cleaned up sewage at an old-age home themselves
Residents of the Westdene area in Johannesburg cleaned up sewage at the Eeufees Oord old-age home themselves after a blocked sewer pipe caused flooding at the facility. The spill began at about 10:00 on August 25, and municipal services did not respond promptly, Daily Maverick reports.
Blocked pipes
Area residents said that tree roots growing into sewer pipes are causing the recurring blockages. According to community representative Clint Hill, municipal services had previously resorted to temporary measures without addressing the underlying problem.
Westdene resident Brian Smith said he unsuccessfully tried several times to contact Johannesburg Water. According to Hill, the water utility usually requires a work order from the city housing department, which manages Eeufees Oord, before fixing a fault on the facility's grounds. He also claimed that more than 30 people had reported the problem.
According to Hill, residents, together with ward councillor Genevieve Sherman, secured the deployment of Johannesburg Water workers despite the absence of such a work order. Some residents also hired private plumbers at their own expense.
At about 19:00, plumbers determined that the problem was not limited to the old-age home's grounds: a blocked pipe on Main Road in Westdene caused sewage to flow back into the facility. According to residents, sewage also entered the stormwater drainage system.
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Community-led cleanup
After the blockage was cleared, residents asked Johannesburg Water to clean and disinfect the area. Hill said they were told that workers intended to return after the waste had dried. Smith said Johannesburg Water gave one resident a bottle of Jeyes Fluid disinfectant and suggested that they clean the area themselves.
Due to the lack of immediate assistance, residents used their own pressure washers and disinfectants to clean areas used by elderly people. According to Smith, the situation was later resolved, and the Gauteng provincial health department joined the cleanup on Saturday, although the community had already completed most of the work itself.
Complaints about the facility's condition
Residents claim that Eeufees Oord has had infrastructure problems for years. Smith, in particular, described an incident earlier this year in which an elderly resident fell, broke her arm and suffered facial injuries; according to him, inadequate lighting contributed to this. After that, the community independently organized the installation of additional streetlights.
In response to an inquiry from Daily Maverick, Johannesburg Water asked for the incident reference number before commenting on the situation. The city housing department and the Johannesburg administration did not respond to journalists' inquiries before publication.
