Nerandhra Singh, 72, is sickly, says his wife, Hawa Bibi Singh, and the couple are living with “a stench that makes it impossible to eat, mosquitoes like swarms of bees, rodents and cockroaches”.
Singh recently came out of hospital after a heart attack, only to come home and catch a lung infection. He is scheduled to return to hospital in January for a possible by-pass operation, said Bibi.
The couple, who rent the property in Gum Tree Road, said moving elsewhere would be unaffordable. Two weeks ago they were already at their wits end, they added.

Next door to their property and also beside what has become a sewage-filled swamp is a children’s playground used mainly by youngsters from a nearby informal settlement.
At this time of year, Nerandhra would usually have planted vegetables on the land that is now a stinking swamp.
The Singhs believe the sewage leak is the result of a blocked pipe.

A week ago, eThekwini Municipality told The Independent on Saturday that the Singhs’ case would be referred to the relevant department - and the week before that “it was sure a team would be dispatched soon”.
But the Singhs said that by yesterday afternoon nobody from the city had arrived. Their daughter Jenny said every time they called the municipality their calls were put on hold for ages until they gave up.
The city has denied that it had been tardy in its response to the Singhs’ case, but no comment was forthcoming from eThekwini Municipality at the time of publication late yesterday.
The SAHRC is waiting for its KZN provincial manager to assess the case.
The city claimed earlier this month that people were disposing of alien objects in the sewerage system such as condoms, sanitary towels, nappies and other foreign objects, which resulted in the system clogging.
“We are appealing to members of the public to refrain from this unlawful conduct. Failure to do so will result in our system having relentless sewer spillages,” spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said at the time. “Our intention is to inculcate a culture of being responsible and understanding that it is the responsibility of the city and the public to help our sewer system to operate without any impediment.”


Source: The Independent on Saturday