Northern Cape
TEL: 053 8312331
WEDNESDAY 27 AUGUST 2014
WWW.EXPRESSNEWS.CO.ZA
FREE
Girl’s childhood stinks } Boipelo Mere
“HIER is nog ’n wurm (here is another worm),” yelled the five-year-old Chanelle Bailey. She was playing on what looked like a makeshift stoep at her home in Homelite. The reality is that the stoep was damaged by the permanent sewage in her yard and the three other yards around her house. Her ill father, Robert Bailey, helplessly watches his daughter playing next to the sewage from a distance in the same yard. With blisters covering his mouth, he sadly tries to force a smile on the arrival of Express Northern Cape’s reporter. Robert Bailey does not even have enough strength to speak during the interview and has to call his outspoken wife, Sarah, to do the talking. He explains that his throat is too sore to speak long and he is afraid of hurting the blisters around his mouth. He had just arrived from a visit to the clinic for treatment of a continuous headache. The Bailey family plans on inviting the Sol Plaatje mayor, David Molusi, for supper inside their RDP house in Homelite after they have received their child support grant. Out of concern of the terrible smell of the sewage that has flooded at least four yards in Mackeral Street, the Express reporter asks why the family allows the child to play in the sewage. “What can we do? We cannot lock her in this smelly house. She is also already used to this smell. We have been living like this since even before she was born. She grew up in this sewage,” says Sarah in a concerned voice. According to the family, they moved into the house when their first-born child, who is now 20 years old, was still a baby. They love their house and neighbourhood; they even learned how to eat here despite the smell.
“But there are times, especially during summer, when we cannot bear it. “The municipality unblocks it today, then after two days it is blocked again. When we report the problem, they take weeks to come again,” said Sarah. “These living conditions are the cause of my illness. I get weaker by the day. The clinic cannot diagnose me and I also can’t afford to go to the doctor anymore. “Even though I will go to the doctor, I am aware that I will not get better as long as I still stay here,” the father says sadly. He further explains how useless his efforts of patching the yard with soil were. “Sister, you must see the ugly things that come out of this drain when it splashes sewage. We see
CHANELLE BAILEY’S (5) parents said that she is used to playing in the sewage dam in her yard. Theirs is one of the four houses that are always flooded by the blocked drains. Photos: Boipelo Mere NEIGHBOURS also complain about their living conditions. The permanently flooded yards also have a negative effect on their houses’ foundations. condoms, sanitary pads and more. One day we will find a dead baby there,” stated the parents. The family is of the opinion that the whole drainage system needs to be upgraded and the drain be lifted by the Sol Plaatje Municipality. ) Go to our Facebook page, Northern-Cape-Express, to comment on this story.
Photo competition: Match a photo to a business on pp 6 and 7 and win prizes.