Under the cover of darkness, bakkies pull up and offload everything including the toxic chemicals that led to a little girl's death.
|||Cape Town - Delft residents in Silversands Road say three-year-old Jordan Lewis’s death could have been avoided. They say they have been living without street lights or electricity for years.
Outraged residents of the N2 Gateway development near Symphony Way say this means opportunistic contractors treat the land around their homes like a dump site.
Under the cover of darkness, they say, contractors pull up in unmarked bakkies and offload everything from old clothes, rubble and fish entrails to the toxic chemicals that led to little Jordan’s death on Sunday.
Streetlights would discourage illegal dumping, they say.
Jordan’s anguished mother, Ethleen Lewis, said: “It is like these people dumping here have no regard for the people that live here.
“Just because we have free homes doesn’t mean we have to live like this.”
Jordan had visited her grandparents on Sunday and had gone outside to play with friends.
While playing in the sand, she ingested a substance which had been dumped on the side of the road. A few hours later, she was dead.
A further 20 adults and children were admitted to hospital, suffering from nausea, coughing fits and respiration problems after being exposed to the bags of poisonous powder.
By Tuesday afternoon, most of them had been discharged.
Lewis said her daughter’s death still felt unreal.
“I’m okay when I have my friends and family around me, but when I’m alone I start crying,” she said.
“That’s when the memories start coming back.”
With tears welling in her eyes, Lewis, who previously lived in Belhar, said she had been lulled into a false sense of security.
“Where I come from there are gangsters and shootings everywhere. I always told Jordan she couldn’t go outside.
“But (in Delft), everyone looks after each other and the streets are safe… It was nice for her to play outside. At least I thought she was safe.”
Lewis said the three-year-old was always very determined and wouldn’t let a cold or getting hurt get in the way of her games.
Ward councillor Khayalethu Makeleni said Eskom was installing electricity in the neighbourhood and plans had already been made to erect streetlights by the middle of the year.
kieran.legg@inl.co.za
Cape Argus