Having no basic sanitation like running water and electricity, they feel they have been forgotten as members of the community.
It’s only recently after the municipality was pressured by DA PR Clr, Zodwa Radebe that they installed communal taps and chemical toilets.
But these are not enough because they still don’t have electricity and have to use paraffin stoves to cook and candles to light their homes.
According to resident Pinky Mphuti (35), who has been living there for 10 years, the area is not safe at all as it is right next to the Spaarwater Dam and a dumping site.
“Municipal trucks used to come and dump waste here right next to our homes. Our children are also not safe because there is no fencing around the dam and they may drown,” she says.
Residents claim they have been to the municipal offices to raise their concerns but were told that the land they live on is privately owned.
South Go Village is built at the old South Go mine, and after the mine closed down some people continued to live there.
Their main concern is the many children who have to walk to and from school everyday because there is no transport in the area.
“Some children have to walk more than 10km to get to school and they get mugged and raped because they cross an open veld to get to and from school,” says Mphuti.
All the residents want is to live in a safe and clean environment, where they can have access to basic needs.
Spokesman of the Ekurhuleni Metro, Themba Gadebe, says South Go is an informal settlement on a privately owned property.
The metro is currently providing basic services in the area.
“In November 2015, we supplied five chemical toilets and an additional standpipe. We are not permitted to provide each household with a chemical toilet and only allowed to provide one toilet per 10 families.
“The two standpipes are all within a radius of 200 metres,” says Gadebe.
He adds that there are about 40 households in the area and residents in the area form part the EMM’s Human Settlement 2017/18 Migration Plan.
