Marlboro Gardens residents feel Alex’s pinch
ALEXANDRA – Marlboro Gardens residents' fear for their safety and home value.
Alex’s housing woes and the recent demolition of homes in the adjacent Silverton informal settlement affect residents of the neighbouring Marlboro Gardens.
A power cut on 29 May was blamed on the recent demolition of ‘illegal’ houses in Silverton. About 100 brick and mortar structures were demolished at the settlement beginning in September last year, next to the Jukskei River and Marlboro Gautrain Station.
A member of Marlboro Residents Association, who requested to remain anonymous, said the homes are collateral to the ongoing housing challenges in Alex, as hunger for land has caused unofficial development of structures on any vacant spot.
“We lost power in our homes hours after the destruction, when our substation and others along a dividing road were petrol bombed. Suspects were seen setting alight tyres next to the station closest to us and later they hurled the petrol bomb, resulting in the power cut,” he said. City Power technicians were working on the station.
He added that they endured a weekend with unanticipated power loss in a month when most who are Muslims were fasting.
He stressed that they are increasingly getting entangled in a problem they aren’t part of and expressed anxiety about their homes losing value due to the encroaching informal settlements.
“There are no protection measures for us as fences are sometimes cut, electricity boxes are exposed and not locked, trenches are dug and left open, encouraging theft of power cables.
“We had endless power losses last month from cable thefts and fiddling of electricity substation boxes.”
He complained about lack of maintenance despite the residents paying their rates and taxes for services by the Joburg City Council.
“We are pending a by-election after the resignation of the councillor,” he said.
DA proportional representative councillor Shadrack Mkhonto affirmed the pending by-elections and thanked the outgoing Wermer Smit.
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