Stinky toilets, fridges and dark streets sparked Emalahleni riots

Toilets that cannot be flushed, rotting food in fridges and dark streets.

These are some of the inconveniences residents in the new sections of KwaGuqa township in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga, have had to live with for the past three weeks after a transformer blew up.

Not only have they been left with no power, but their water supply has also been affected as the local pump station has no back-up power during electricity outages.

The transformer supplies electricity to more than 50,000 households and seven primary schools.

"It is a big mess. We can't flush our toilets, we can't cook or charge our phones," said community leader Amanda Nkuna.

"We have had to throw out some meat and every other household had a braai to reduce the chance of meat getting spoilt. It is truly a financial loss."

Nkuna said people living with diabetes and needed to refrigerate their medication had to negotiate with fuel station owners for assistance.

She said pupils writing exams were under strain as they had to study under candle light.

"The police station phone lines also don't work, so this gives opportunity to criminals to steal because it is dark. We have had cases where people tried to contact the police station and the lines were not going through.

“We cannot risk confronting these criminals because what if they are armed and dangerous. While the municipality provides water tankers to the various areas, residents say the water is not enough to sustain them. This has led some to be creative enough to store rain water from the past few days for flushing and bathing."

Community member Lettie Skosana, who also harvested rain water, said: "But why do we have to live like that when we pay rates and taxes? Surely it can't take three weeks to fix a transformer." 

At a nearby primary school, the toilets had a sharp stench that met us from metres away, while flies infested some of the full bowls used by pupils aged between five and 14.

Cleaners at the school have to manually clear out the toilets using buckets.

"I am scared our learners will get infections," an official at the school said.

People who have generators have even used this as a business opportunity, charging locals R10 to charge their phones, laptops or other electronics.

Emalahleni local municipality said repair work on the transformer was underway and arrangements to have it delivered and installed would be done on Friday.

“Consideration is given [to] weather conditions, road transportation permits and accessibility. The supplier and the municipality are busy with other supporting works to expedite both delivery and installation of the transformer.”

Residents said they were not holding their breath as too many promises had been made but not honoured.

sibiyan@sowetan.co.za