Editor’s voice: You have to toil hard to enjoy the fruits of your labour

I was consumed by anger last Thursday as I stood on the hill at Elandshoek Village and witnessed the community’s terrible living conditions. I felt adrenaline rush up my spine, and I couldn’t help to be shocked and disappointed at the same time.

I assumed that houses made of mud and sticks were a thing of the past, yet in 2016 they are still in existence and are a source of shelter for many. The entire area next to the orange plantation is dotted with mud and stick houses. As we drove up, I noticed that the homesteads at the bottom of the hill had taps in the yards, but those on the hill had none. However, there are many illegal water connections.

It is a good thing they all have electricity, but why do some of the homesteads not have access to water?
Who placed them there in the first place? Was the area not surveyed first and infrastructure installed before people were allowed to build houses there? Why are there so few RDP houses in the area?

People do invade land that was not demarcated for human settlement and then demand services by protesting, burning tyres and barricading roads. They cause havoc, forgetting that they are the reason for being in such a predicament.

Read: I think the provincial government is starting to move in the right direction.

It then seems as though the community doesn’t appreciate the fact that the ruling party sacrificed, served and suffered for the people of this country and liberated them from the shackles of apartheid in 1994.

Its effort is much appreciated, but we need to face reality. Everyone has to be realistic about their objectives in life. My advice to the people of South Africa is to be truthful to themselves, and remember that not everything under the sun is free. You have to toil hard to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

The solution is simple: provide adequate houses and basic services to the people and allow everyone to enjoy the fruits of freedom.