Langa voters wade through raw sewage to cast ballots on election day
According to residents, sewage pipe bursts are a regular occurrence in Cape Town’s oldest township.
Quinton Mtyala
In Langa, Cape Town, voters are having to jump over a river of raw sewage after a pipe burst this morning. Residents say this is a regular occurrence in the area because of overcrowding and poor service delivery. Picture: Quinton Mtyala/EWN
Quinton Mtyala/EWN
Voters in Langa, at the Johnson Ngwevela voting station, were wading through raw sewage to make their mark.
According to residents, sewage pipe bursts are a regular occurrence in Cape Town’s oldest township.
An African National Congress (ANC) supporter in Langa, Fundilwazi Sityoshwana, said Langa needed new sewers because the system was not built for the current number of people living in the township.
He added that the old men-only hostel now housed several families, with up to 20 people sharing a bathroom, placing a strain on the township’s infrastructure.
The Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) Cape Town mayoral candidate Nontando Nolotshungu said the burst sewage pipe was emblematic of poor service delivery to townships by the Democratic Alliance (DA).
“As you can see, currently, you know, this is sewage. Early this morning we woke up, and this was reported. It’s now 10 past 2, and nothing has been done about it,” she said.
Nolotshungu said that, should the EFF come to power in Cape Town, it would halt all the sale of City-owned land and instead use it for the building of housing.