Residents point finger at Sol Plaatje over flooding, while municipality blames community for illegal dumping
FOR RESIDENTS of Club 2000 the recent welcome rain has turned into a nightmare as many homes and yards in the area have been flooded.
The rains over the last couple of days have left many residents ankle-deep in water in their homes and feeling helpless after failing to rescue the situation by bailing the water out with buckets.
According to the residents this is, however, not a new problem.
The residents on Tuesday slammed local politicians and Sol Plaatje Municipality councillors and officials, including executive mayor Patrick Mabilo, for “failing” them.
They said that while the politicians continue to “show face” and the municipality sends trucks of reef soil to fill their yards, this is only a temporary fix and the problem still remains.
“The reef soil does not really help because the soil gets washed away with every rain, then we are back to square one,” one of the residents, Parks Sello, pointed out.
He said that the mayor had been in the area, “with his entourage”, to conduct inspections.
The Sol Plaatje Municipality said on Tuesday that it was aware of the situation, adding that Club 2000 is not the only area in the city encountering flooding problems.
Municipal spokesperson Sello Matsie said that illegal dumping is the root cause of the problem.
Matsie said that the stormwater system became blocked and that the main culprits are often the community members themselves.
“The biggest problem we continue to come across is residents dumping mattresses and old fridges in the water canal and the dam, making it difficult for water to flow freely,” said Matsie.
He said that residents continued to go back to illegal dumping as soon as the system has been cleaned, and then blame the municipality.
Matsie added that a new programme to clean the systems will commence soon.
