Broken lift leaves elderly stranded
The broken elevator at the council-owned Tweedy Park Flats, which has been out of order for over a week, is causing a massive predicament for the elderly residents.
The eight-storey building in Brakpan has two elevators to carry the mostly elderly residents up and down.
The service elevator has not been operational since before 2011 and, on Thursday, last week, the second elevator failed, leaving fragile and disabled residents stranded on the higher floors.
This is not the first time that the second elevator has become non-operational. According to residents it is a common occurrence.
The state of the service lift poses an even bigger problem.
Ill residents, in need of medical care, cannot be moved on stretchers and, according to information, a resident who had died earlier in the year had to be carried from the building in a blanket, as the paramedics could not reach the flat with a stretcher.
Not only were residents on the top floors unable to collect their monthly pensions, but they have been unable to refill necessary prescriptions, visit the doctor for their regular check-ups or do any shopping.
The infirm and disabled have been most severely affected.
DA ward councillor Veronica Dyson has urged the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) to take this matter seriously and have the lifts repaired as a matter of urgency.
Dyson has been attending to this matter, in an effort to resolve the dilemma facing the residents of the flats.
Following her recent visit to the flats, an official from the housing department assured her that he was in the process of obtaining the three quotes necessary to choose a service provider and that the matter would be resolved quickly.
“However, subsequent visits – on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, last week – proved that this was not the case,” said Dyson.
“A tour of the building also proved just how dangerous the situation is, as the fire hose reels have not been serviced and that the fire extinguishers, which were stolen in early 2014, have not yet been replaced.
“Council-owned property should not be this poorly maintained and budget constraints should not see basic levels of safety ignored.
“Nor should human dignity suffer, as it did when the body of a resident who had died earlier in the year had to be carried from the building in a blanket, as the paramedics could not reach the flat with a stretcher, because the service lift was not operational.”
A 78-year-old resident, who lives on the eighth floor, told the Herald that she has to climb 110 stairs to reach her flat.
“When I go to buy groceries I have to ask someone to carry the bags for me and I have to pay the person to do so,” said Mabel Klene.
“I also had an operation and I was advised by the doctor that I should not climb stairs unnecessarily.”
She also told the Herald that some residents throw their rubbish over the balconies because they can simply not carry it down stairs.
The Herald has requested comment from the EMM.
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