Residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement refused to register to vote on January 25 and 26, despite the efforts of MMC for Human Settlement Lesiba Mpya responding to their memorandum.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa declared this weekend as the last voter registration weekend before the national election day.
Voting stations at Joe Slovo informal settlement were closed due to the residents’ outcry of poor service delivery in the area.
This follows a protest action on January 15 where more than 500 community members of Joe Slovo took to the streets in protest against the mayor’s failure to respond to their memorandum submitted last year December.
Residents blockaded St Anthony’s Road and Leon Ferreira Drive with tyres and stones.
Residents called for the reblocking of Joe Slovo, electrical box installation, finalisation of the stormwater drain at St Anthony’s Road, update about the Leeuwpoort Project and the database list of the people in Joe Slovo.
Residents said if their memorandum was not attended to, the communities would not cast their votes on election day.
However, Mpya met with the community members on January 20 to discuss their memorandum.
According to one of the community leaders, JayJay Majali, they were told about 450 families will be moved to an alternative area.
“According to a letter we received from his office its states Joe Slovo is congested and it cannot be reblocked in its current state. After aligning the shacks in both these areas the energy department will be requested to electrify the two settlement areas.
“We also received the Leeuwport Project database list,” Majali said.
Majali said the reason why people refused to register to vote is that they want to see some action because they are tired of empty promises.
“The community wants and is willing to vote, but they have taken a vow among themselves that they want to see this project happening before they vote,” Majali said.
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