KwaMai-Mai residents want to be heard
The residents of KwaMai-Mai have decided to take a stand and make their voice heard by establishing a committee to speak on behalf of residents.
Life for KwaMai-Mai residents has not changed and seems to be getting worse.
The EXPRESS reported on June 29 that KwaMai-Mai residents are in urgent need of help due to the poor living conditions.
Since the last visit, the situation has not improved and little assistance has been forthcoming.
The settlement has been in existence for more than 10 years. Resident said they have not received an offer of help from the City of Joburg (CoJ).
The residents of KwaMai-Mai have decided to take a stand and make their voice heard by establishing a committee to speak on behalf of residents.
Ms Thoko Thusi, who is a committee member, said the residents are tired of the living conditions and they want change.
“We have been waiting for so long and we tried to make the place safe enough for our children and families, but this is just not the ideal place to live for anyone.
“The rainy season is upon us and the situation is really bad during that time,” said Ms Thusi.
Residents of KwaMai-Mai are in the process of registering all the people living within the settlement and a petition will be signed and delivered to the provincial government.
“We want all the people living here to be accounted for. We are registering the residents to be sure of the number of people living here and for the municipality to know how many people need homes,” said Ms Thusi.
“We will deliver the petition and will give until the end of August for a response. If no action is taken to assist us, we will march, demanding houses.
“All the residents of KwaMai-Mai will march if we don’t get help,” said Ms Thusi.
The CoJ’s Mayoral Committee Member for Housing, Clr Bonakelo Daniel Bovu, said there is a programme in place, whereby the CoJ plans to move the people of KwaMai-Mai to South Hill.
South Hill is a block of flats which provides accommodation at normal rental rates, as well as RDP flats.
“There are number of issues we need to consider before moving any of the people. First, we need to check who is working and earning how much. We will also check if they qualify for rental or RDP accommodation.
“After we have established such information, we will then see who qualifies to go to South Hill or who qualifies for rental,” said Clr Bovu.
He said KwaMai-Mai is not the only place that has unfavourable living conditions.
“There are a number of places that need help, just like KwaMai-Mai. We are doing this project in stages and KwaMai-Mai’s turn will come. We know the situation in KwaMai-Mai is bad, but we will deal with the problem systematically. This is a long waiting list from 1996 that needs to be attended to, so we are first going to deal with that backlog as those people have also been waiting for houses for a long time,” said Clr Bovu.
In response to residents’ intended petition and possible march, Clr Bovu said, “People are allowed to sign a petition. This issue needs to be discussed before it gets to a march. We will try to arrange an urgent meeting with the councillor of Jeppe before the end of August to see what solutions we can come up with,” said Clr Bovu.
