They spend sleepless nights because of the noise from the rodents. One of the residents of the ward said they have been trying get rid of the rats since last year, but in vain.
“We have reported the rats to the councillor of the area, Solomon Dikgang after we tried to kill them but failed to get rid of them. They live in most thatched huts on the roof and at night, they come out in droves to cause havoc all night, eating everything on their way. My thatched hut now has holes all over and the mattress too is full of holes and we are learning to live with them,” says Warona Gaelebale.
The residents of Tshikinyega ward say they have been buying rat poison from Zimbabwean hawkers said to possess the deadliest concoction but the rats seem to have become immune.
They say they have fears that the rats will give them diseases if they are not wiped out. The councillor for the area, Solomon Dikgang confirmed that the invasion of the rats was reported to him.
He said he is doing everything he can to rid the ward of the rats. He said he has reported the matter to the council.
“The residents of Tshikinyega ward have a problem of rats. I have never seen anything like it before. In one homestead, two people showed me their wounds which they say are from the rats that eat away their heels while they are asleep.
I have reported the matter to the council, which will fumigate the place. I do not know why it has taken this long to have the place fumigated,” said Dikgang.
However the environmental health officer in the Central District Council said he did not know that Serowe was under siege by rats. The officer said if the matter was reported to them, they could either use rat traps or poison to kill the rodents.
“If there are indeed rats, we need to conduct experiments, find their source, burrows where they live and trap them.
“Mostly you find that the rats get to be many where there are a lot of bushes and of course they carry diseases and I think the situation needs to be urgently taken care of,” says the official.
Meanwhile, Dikgang complained that the road to the cemetery is not accessible during the rains.
“When it rains, it is impossible to get to the cemetery. We have to leave all the cars 400 meters away from the cemetery and carry the coffin all the way because driving into the graveyard is impossible,” he said.
