No water for three months
The 2nd Avenue Informal Settlement has been without water for three months and the residents have no options left.
The 2nd Avenue Informal Settlement in Alberton North, known as the garage dwellers, has been without running water for three and a half months.
Residents of the settlement have reported to the RECORD that for the last three and a half months they have been living without running water. Occupants have had to individually fetch water from surrounding businesses who have become reluctant to help them as their own bills are being affected.
Among the 47 people who live in one section of the camp are school children, pensioners and people with disabilities.
Everyone has to use one bathroom that is individually maintained by the people in the camp. A resident who asked to remain anonymous has lived in the 2nd Avenue Informal Settlement for seven years and stated to the RECORD, “We have nowhere else to go. If we had another place we would not stay here.”
People have been living in the settlement for 10 years. The settlement has been under scrutiny in court since October 2013 and this has been postponed indefinitely to allow the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) to report on how they may house the almost 80 illegal occupants.
On February 20, this year, the municipality issued an interim report indicating that they still need time to find land or alternative accommodation for the residents. The matter is still not finalised.
The RECORD is awaiting comment from EMM.
