THE NEW WORKER

Rats are all over the place. The township was established more than thirty years ago.

Despite numerous attempts to engage, the city of Ekurhuleni remained arrogant because some city officials and ward councillors colluded and formed a group to destroy a project that was meant to develop the area.

In essence, residents were relocated to one-room structures in waiting areas and told this would only be for six months while houses were being built. However, it was a selfish move by the authorities because after that, Balmoral Phase one of the development was left incomplete from 2016 till today. Toilets were built with fancy geysers but not completed.

Shockingly, the authorities proceeded to put shacks in the space that the community had been forced out and relocated from. Those community members who had been approved for houses decided to take the matter to the Public Protector. It is now under investigation. However, the arrogant officials of the city keep on dodging meetings. In essence, they are still insisting on the same mkhukhu to mkhukhu, meaning that people have to relocate to the toilet with no space, just one room per family. Now people have started using chemical toilets while waiting for three years for proper toilets and houses, which is an insult to residents.

On 18 July, the MMC for Human Settlements in Ekurhuleni municipality, councillor Kgopelo Hollo, decided to pay a site visit to the area. As an activist journalist, I managed to speak to a couple of members of the community who had gathered to wait for Hollo.

Community member Skere said "We have been residing in the area since 1995 without any service delivery rendered to us. We sometimes ask ourselves which municipality we belong to, because the City of Ekurhuleni has been very arrogant when we try to engage them".

Skere added that Hollo would need to explain how it was possible to build toilets first and then fit houses in the small space next to the toilets afterward.

"There's no space. You can't even park a Tazz there. And why are subcontractors claiming to be almost done or just finalising the job when nothing is finished? And why are there so many subcontractors? The area has now become a crime spot with lots of crime happening. Police are not doing enough" said Skere.

Another resident who wished to remain anonymous said this Balmoral project phase one started back in 2016 and was meant to take place in three phases. But almost a decade later, it is still incomplete.

"The project manager, Robert Van Zyl is claiming the project is 95% completed and that the toilets are all in flushing order. I am not sure if he is really sober. Now they want to relocate us again so that they increase kickbacks they get from the chemical toilets but we won't move until we get our houses" said the resident.

A resident known as Manosha wanted to know why there was a database with names of people approved for toilets. "I don't think anyone in the country can be approved for a toilet while using pit toilets. Something is fishy, possibly corruption" said Manosha.

After some delays, the MMC arrived to do inspections. The community demanded a longer meeting with the MMC to discuss the problems and this is scheduled for next week.

Category: THE NEW WORKER | NEWS