Fanzile Sibeko is one of dozens of residents of Standerton, in Mpumalanga, who have been held hostage by raw sewage that has flooded their homes for years due to the collapsed municipal infrastructure in the area.
Sibeko, 49, from Rooikopen extension, said frequent blockages of sewer pipes had sent sewage flowing into people's homes, trapping them inside due to the foul smell outside.
Residents of the area, which falls under the Lekwa local municipality, said they have had to contend with poor service delivery, including neglect of the sewer system, burst water pipes, dug-up roads and uncollected rubbish for years.
"The whole of Standerton is rotten with heaps of waste dumps, smelly sewage and we live like pigs," said Sibeko.
Outside Sibeko's home, a dug-up drain hole about the size of a standard vehicle was left open three weeks ago by a contractor.
"I don't even know how to explain what is happening. They keep on digging our streets but there's no progress. What is more frustrating is that they leave them [holes] there, compromising our children's safety and our safety. "
Just down the road from Sibeko's house is Shukuma Primary School .
Children from the school aged between five and six years walk past the gaping hole filled with water and raw sewage daily from home to school. .
"These are young and curious children. I constantly have to scare them off whenever I find them playing next to the deep hole. They might slip and fall inside the water-filled hole, and the municipality does not take that into account."
Sibeko said his children's lives were also at risk because of the hole.
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In Sakhile extension 6, Petrus Kganye, 63, told Sowetan that he too had been trapped in his house by sewage that has been flowing into his yard.
"There's faeces everywhere, tissues everywhere, we cannot enjoy our homes," he said. Kganye said the recent heavy rains assisted in washing away the dried up sewage residue and eased the pungent smell a bit.
"I just feel like the municipality should be put under administration because all they have done is loot our funds. People who have been deployed to serve the people have abandoned their duties and resorted to spending the money for their personal needs," said Kganye.
Kganye said Ext 6, like any other township in Standerton, had a collapsed drainage system and water and electricity problems.
He said he had to dig up a furrow in his yard to redirect the sewage to the streets.
"Its better off flowing into the streets than being kept as a health hazard inside the yard," he said.
Kganye said rubbish had also not been collected in the area since last year.
"We throw the waste on the side of the roads or burn it . When our dustbins are full and when the wind comes it blows it back to our homes."
Kganye, who works as a gardener, said if he had money he would relocate to another place.
"I'm stuck here and the most painful part is that the people who are supposed to account for our livelihoods don't even live in our town. They ran away to buy luxurious homes in neighbouring cities, leaving us in the pigsty."
Mduduzi Dladla, 30, who lives a block away from Kganye, also expressed frustration with the sewage problem in his house.
"My walls are collapsing from the sewage seeping from the ground and burst water pipes. The walls are always wet and as a result they have cracked," he said.
Dladla said he could not even open the windows because of the pungent smell outside. Behind Dladla's home is a pool of polluted stagnant water.
"Its been like this for two years and I've reported the issue countless times to the municipality but, like everyone else, I'm watching my home sink into the ground and collapse.
"We go for weeks without water and electricity at times and until we take to the streets and protest then we are heard. What kind of a life is that?.
"I can barely stay here. I always visit friends and family to get fresh air because of the sewage," Dladla said.
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