Goby approaches Human Rights Commission about lifts
Mary Goby has approached the South African Human Rights Commission about the lifts at council-owned flats in Benoni.
The former Ward 28 councillor has sent several complaints to the regulating body, focusing on the Ekurhuleni metro’s conduct regarding the N12 informal settlement, as well as council-owned flats in Benoni.
One of these was that the lifts at council-owned flats have been out of order for too long.
Karachi Court (Actonville), Delhi Court (Actonville), Deneys Conradie Residentia (Western Extension) and Pauline Davis Court (Benoni CBD) are the council-owned buildings in Benoni with broken lifts.
“Ekurhuleni keeps promising things to these residents, then don’t keep them or change them,” Goby said.
“If there’s a problem like this, there should be an emergency fund for it, but nothing’s happening.”
Clr Haseena Ismail (Ward 29), in whose ward Actonville falls, said the tender process for repairing or replacing the lifts is taking too long.
“The metro doesn’t replace the lifts at Karachi Court or Delhi Court because they say people vandalise the lifts too much,” Ismail said.
“They first want to install security measures to ensure the lifts aren’t tampered with.
“I find it unfair that they take so long; the people are suffering.
“The lifts should have been fixed a long time ago.”
David Chetty, a resident at Delhi Court, which is eight storeys high, said the lifts have not been functional for the past 15 to 20 years.
“The iron steps to get to the higher floors are worn and slippery, and the handrails shake,” Chetty added.
He and Ismail said there are elderly residents living on the higher floors, who have trouble walking up and down the flights of stairs.
“The worst is when someone dies, and the body has to be carefully carried down these steps,” Ismail added.
Clr Sinethemba Matiwane (Ward 73) said the metro has to start the tender process for the lifts to be replaced.
“These are very old lifts. To fix them is not feasible – they’ll have to be replaced,” he said.
“The item is on council’s agenda, but I hope they can get everything in place quickly.”
The metro was approached for comment, but none had been received at the time of going to print.
Also read:
Elderly experience great inconvenience over broken lifts
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