For more than two decades under ANC rule, Sharpeville residents have been forced to occupy houses drenched in sewage water, use roads full of potholes so deep they are referred to as “graves” and often go up to six months without their waste being collected.  

This has led to the mushrooming of unofficial dumping sites in parts of the township where heaps of rubbish remain uncollected. In other areas, residents have resorted to forking out between R20 and R50 per household a week to get private service providers to collect their waste.   

Those unable to pay for a service provider dump their rubbish in nearby open spaces, often on the side of the road, where sewage runs freely. For locals, its stench has become normal...