Deteriorated flats a hazard
JEPPESTOWN – Resident demands title deeds in order to fix their homes.
Residents of Jeppe Julius Park are not happy with the level of deterioration of the council flats.
Many of the residents have been living in the block of flats for more than 10 years and have never seen any maintenance being undertaken. The council flats have a number of challenges from sewage overflowing to a lack of service delivery and title deeds.
“The sewage is a health hazard to the children, as they play in it. The flats look dangerous, we cannot do maintenance ourselves because the flats belong to the council,” said resident, Glenda Prinsloo.
“We have had to report what needed to be maintained to the council office and they should have come to fix it – but that has not happened in 13 years. They would tell us that there is no budget.”
She said families are subjected to bad living conditions because the council is failing to deliver services as promised.
According to her, a plumbing inspection was performed in 2009, the problem was fixed but now the plumbing is worse than before. “The residents have lost hope in the council. The municipality is not interested in our challenges because we have been reporting problems and have not received joy, we just want our title deeds now so we can fix our homes,” she said.
“However, the council needs to take responsibility and fix the street lights, plumbing problems and everything else that needs to be maintained because it was left to deteriorate to that level by them.”
Ahead of 3 August local government elections, City of Joburg Mayor Herman Mashaba had promised that the City will finalise waiting lists within 60 days and that people will receive title deeds.
DA councillor Bongani Nkwanyana has been assisting residents of Jeppe Julius to obtain title deeds and also try to tackle the challenges facing the residents. “The conditions of the flats are not safe.
“There are hazards everywhere. The council has failed to service the residents and they have been requesting title deeds [so as] to be able to fix their homes but their requests have fallen on deaf ears.”
He said with the new DA-led City, he can push for residents to receive title deeds. “As the Mayor has been giving title deeds to residents of Joburg, I will be sending an enquiry specifically about Jeppe Julius Park to find out if they are part of the group that will receive title deeds.”
When the Joburg East Express approached for comment on 13 October, Mashaba said, “We are busy rolling out title deeds to people of Joburg but, at the most, I cannot be specific about [which] areas will receive them, as there are many. We will have to find out from the office if the flats are part of the list.”
He has also agreed to a meeting to discuss the title deed issue in detail with the Joburg East Express during the week ending 21 October.
Nkwanyama added that residents must also note that title deeds will apply to those who have been living in the flats for a certain number of years. “People who have been living here for more than 10 years will be in a position to receive a title deed.”
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