People living in crumbling homes accuse the mayor of disrespecting them
After decades of having to make do without running water and proper electricity, residents at the Diepkloof Hostel in Soweto finally received these much-needed services.
But residents were angered when City of Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda cancelled his visit to the area at the eleventh hour on Tuesday.
This after Gwamanda had promised to the community that he would come back after visiting the hostels in June last year.
Diepkloof Hostel residents have accused City of Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda of “disrespecting their plight” after he snubbed them by cancelling his visit to the area at the eleventh hour on Tuesday.
But the City says Gwamanda was called to attend urgent meetings to resolve the current water crisis in parts of Joburg.
While residents welcomed the long-awaited installation of electricity and water in their homes this week, many of them said they were disappointed that the mayor was a no-show.
This after Gwamanda made verbal promises to the community after visiting the hostels in June last year and witnessed the deplorable conditions they lived in, as reported by Daily Maverick. His visit followed weeks of disruptive protests by hostel dwellers.
A year after they protested, the residents’ homes got electricity formally for the first time in decades late on Tuesday.
The hostels, in Soweto, were built in the 1970s for workers coming from rural areas to work in the city. The homes were then taken over and are managed by the municipality. However, more than 7,000 residents have had to survive without water and proper electricity for years while their homes have become dilapidated.
All of the brick structures are crumbling, they have broken windows, doors and when it rains water floods through holes in the roofs.