Extortion gangs demand R10 000 from City workers amid Khayelitsha sewage crisis

Municipal workers face R10 000 extortion from gangsters to repair burst pipes and sewage overflows, leaving poor residents to suffer from ongoing water and sewage leakages.

But with the city rightfully refusing to bow the knee to gang extortion, poor residents are left paying the ultimate price as poo and water leakages continue to flow through their communities.

City’s Mayco Member for Water and Sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien said the problem was a big headache keeping him awake at night.

He said the city has identified “red zones” where crime is at its absolute worst.

"Red zones" are areas municipal officials avoid because they are too dangerous.

“Our staff cannot carry out essential repairs in these areas without putting their lives at risk,” Badroodien said.

The crisis is playing out against the backdrop of ongoing sewage overflows and low water pressure in the metro's informal settlements.

When an IOL news team visited Makhaza, Khayelitsha, residents were forced to wade through knee-deep rivers of what looked like raw sewage.

For residents like Aphiwe Mhlungu, the situation has become unbearable.

“We can’t open our windows, the smell is everywhere, and the kids can’t even play outside,” the 45-year-old said.

Mhlungu said some days he and his little family can’t eat because the "stench is too strong".

Another resident Sibongile Dlamini said: "We call the city, but repairs take too long ... it is humiliating to live like this while waiting for someone to help us."

Badroodien said though he sympathised with residents, crime, extortion and sabotage were increasingly preventing teams from doing their work.

"People come up to our workers and say, ‘If you want to fix the sewer pipe, you need to pay R10,000 before you can do anything.

“They also get hijacked sometimes, and in certain communities like Manenberg, they get caught in between gang gunfire.

Asked if he will pay protection money, Badroodien was quick to say "no".

“We will never do such a thing,” he said.

“When extortion happens, it must be reported.

He said staff safety comes first.

“There is no way that an operational team member should put their own life at risk for doing their job,” he said.

Badroodien said that, on top of the thuggery and extortion attempts, residents in Makhaza had built homes on top of a three-metre sewer servitude.

But the MMC in charge, Carl Pophaim, said his officials were also threatened when they wanted to engage with the residents.

"The city has assembled a transversal team with sister departments to ensure a seamless relocation for residents currently occupying the servitude in Makhaza which has since collapsed," he told IOL.

"Human settlements is taking the lead at this stage due to the relocation demand, so that the contractor can repair and replace the existing pipeline and restore basic service delivery."

According to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime's latest Western Cape gang monitor report "the practice of extortion is most deeply embedded in township areas such as Khayelitsha."