Cinderella Hostel residents march against housing threat
As a way of making their voices heard, residents of the Cinderella Hostel and members of the ANC in Ward 32 peacefully marched to the Boksburg Civic Centre on April 23, to hand over a memorandum of demands to their ward councillor and the Ekurhuleni Metro.
Escorted by members of the EMPD and SAPS, residents gathered outside the hostel at about 9am and marched to the civic centre, where they were addressed by Johan Hendricks, of the DA, who also signed and accepted the memorandum.
The residents are concerned about the planned Cinderella housing project, consisting of 3 000 low-cost housing units, which, they feel, might leave them homeless.
They want their councillor to take steps to ensure that the Human Settlement Department calls a halt to the housing project in Cinderella and, at the same time, comes up with a new housing plan that will benefit both black and white poor families currently living in the area.
They are also demanding proper consultation with residents of the area and proper billing by the municipality, with regard to water, lights and other services.
Residents are also calling for a strategy to fight crime, especially the drug trade.
They stated that they are expecting feedback from authorities at the next public meeting with the councillor.
Hendricks promised that he would present the memorandum to the relevant departments, and take action to ensure that each of these departments sends their representative to address the residents.
Although residents accused Hendricks of deliberately snubbing their grievances, he said he also understands the shock, confusion and anger among the affected residents, who have been calling the area their home for years.
The crowd also used the march to call on residents to join forces to stop the ongoing xenophobic attacks in some parts of Boksburg.
