Madala Hostel work in Alex a ‘ticking timebomb’

A member of the interim committee of the ‘We Love Alex Community Makeover Project’ Muntu Mbanjwa has described the current work being undertaken by the City of Johannesburg at Madala Hostel as a ‘ticking timebomb’.

Speaking at a meeting of the interim committee of the makeover project on 1 February, Mbanjwa warned that Alex people and those living in the hostel complex and its peripheries were excluded from employment in the project.

“We hear that people are hiring labour from as far afield as Nkandla while our own Alex brothers and sisters are hungry and unemployed. Why are they not employing local labour?

“This whole project at the Madala Hostel is nothing but a ticking timebomb. There will be chaos in Alex if people are not paying attention to little detail such as their employment patterns,” he said, warning the makeover project to ensure it had its ducks in a row when it comes to hiring labour for the beautification project.

Mbanjwa urged the makeover project to be wary of its employment patterns and also to consult as widely as possible before implementing the project.

“We want to insert the key and lock the project, and we can only do that with the mass participation of the ordinary people on the ground. No one can falter us as the people will have spoken.”

“There was no consultation of the people of Alexandra before that work at the hostel was undertaken. In the makeover project, we want mass participatory democracy in decision making and implementation of the project and in that way, we will not fail,” added Bishop Witts Mahloko, another committee member.