With the election-day proclaimed and the voters roll closed, campaigning has now begun in earnest. And for their part, Boipatong residents in the Emfuleni Municipality in the Vaal, say they want their votes to change their lives for the better.
The residents are living in a stench from a nearby de-commissioned landfill site and raw sewage is flooding their streets and yards.
Community leader Reverend Modise Molefe says they expect a lot from their votes.
“My vote is a demand for basic dignity. Our votes are not a trade-off for empty election promises. President Ramaphosa uses this buzzword human dignity but the reality at the grass-root here is incredible indignity. Let’s trade-off Mr. President, come here and spend two hours and have lunch here President Ramaphosa and can you do that Minister Manyier?
The residents say their complaints about a stench from a nearby de-commissioned landfill site and a raw sewage flooding their streets and yards have fallen on deaf ears. One of the community members Kenny Giba says the terrible smell has adversely affected his family.
“The stench of this toxic waste has been affecting our lives. I have lost both of my parents, the contributory factor is this environmental hazard and then I am suffering from short breath and my sons too are experiencing the same thing. So, the community at large is suffocating not by choice.”
VIDEO | Emfuleni Municipality residents say the sewage stench is adversely affecting their lives:
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