Residents of Enkanini informal settlement say they have waited more than three months for repairs

Residents of Enkanini informal settlement, near Bonela in Durban, say they have waited more than three months for the municipality to stop stormwater and sewage running down the settlement's main road.

When GroundUp visited Enkanini last week, we saw several streams flowing from two drains along Blinkbonnie Road. The stench was strong.

Residents said the problem affects more than 100 households.

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One resident, who asked not to be named, said the sewage often overflows again after repairs. She has lived in Enkanini since 2018 with her two young children.

"The problem with the sewage is that most of the time, after [the municipality] has fixed it, it lasts about a month or two. Then it overflows again into the road. I have to make sure my children are not playing next to the overflowing sewage," she said.

GroundUp sent questions to eThekwini Municipality on 13 October and provided reference numbers and the location. A response was finally received on 22 October, in which the municipality said the water was overflowing from the blocked stormwater line, to which informal dwellings have unlawfully connected toilets.

"The stormwater network is meant to carry rainwater only, and when wastewater and solid waste enter it, the pipes block and overflow onto the road," said spokesperson Senzelwe Mzila.

Mzila said the stormwater drain would be unblocked this week.

Community leader Nhlanhla Mtshali said residents who use the road to get to work and other places are forced to walk past human waste. He said the smell was particularly bad in hot weather, adding that he cannot sit outside his home and has to keep his door closed.

But the sewage problem is part of a longer-running struggle for basic services in Enkanini.

In October last year, more than 200 residents picketed outside their ward councillor's mobile office in Bonela for three hours before overturning the structure. They said they had been living without basic services since 2017.

Ward 30 councillor Warren Burne (DA) told GroundUp at the time that the settlement needed tap water, electricity and sewerage infrastructure.

Burne has now accused the municipality of making no effort to provide proper water and electricity supplies or systems for disposing of wastewater and human waste. "The current circumstances in Blinkbonnie Road are a very visible demonstration of the breakdown of service delivery in eThekwini," he said.

Burne said the situation would worsen until the municipality provided services, including wastewater removal and domestic refuse collection.