Residents of the New Look suburb in Katima Mulilo are pleading for government intervention over persistent overflows of sewer water into their yards and homes.
Alfonsina Libetwa and her immediate neighbours say they launched a complaint with the Katima Mulilo town council regarding the inconvenience and health hazard they face, but their plea seems not to have been attended to.
Imagine stepping into a home where the air is filled with an unbearable stench.
The scent of mildew and dampness lingers in every corner, mingling with the acidic sting of urine.
This is the life of 65-year-old Alfonsina Libetwa, who reached out to the nbc News team, saying she has been living in a stench-filled home for the past two weeks, unable to use her shower, cook, or stay at home due to the bad smell filling up her home as soon as the doors open.
Libetwa, a pensioner, says she has reported this countless times to the town council.
She has been informed that the line pump was broken and needed fixing, which is taking forever.
"Two weeks now with this situation. When it comes to taking baths, I'm forced to do so outside; as for cooking, I can't even do that inside; I've resorted to just asking for food from my relatives elsewhere. I just come here and risk sleeping here because of my belongings; thieves have been problematic as well. I sleep here not knowing whether or not I'll wake up the next day because of how tense it is, because I'm also an asthmatic person, staying two weeks in such a stench. How does one expect an asthmatic patient to survive?"
Apart from water not being able to drain from the shower and bathtub, her toilets have also had a similar issue when flushing, and she fears that toilet waste might flow into the house.
While the current overflow has been going on for two weeks, she recently reported the same issue a month ago and does not understand why only temporary solutions were made over the past years.
Libetwa further questioned why the council has not prioritised buying the needed equipment, as she and her neighbours have suffered from the same problem for years.
Approached for comment, the head of the technical department at the council noted that they are aware of the sewer issues because of a broken pump and that, while a requisition to purchase a new one has been done, they are still working on fixing the old one. He also added that, for the time being, nothing can be done for those affected and asked them to be patient.