Residents who were promised housing left to live in hall
Residents said they didn't sleep at night as they always kept an eye on their belongings and were concerned about their general safety.
“They’ve thrown us here like dogs and forgot about us. They’ve failed us!”
These were the words of hopeless and angry residents of Hillside as February 13 will mark one year since they were promised government-subsidised houses at the Dan Tloome Housing Project.
Former Executive Mayor Brenda Mahuma had them moved ‘temporarily’ to Randgate Community Hall, but what was supposed to be only for three weeks has become a year. The question is, when will they get the homes they were promised?
Community members said since they’d been moved to the hall, there were no communication from Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) about their future. This is despite having Gauteng Department of Human Settlements letters of approval for their houses, and now their frustrations have reached boiling point.
It seems that Funi Mphahlele, 38, like many others, will be raising her newborn baby at the Randgate Community Hall.
Last November the Herald sent questions about the matter to RWCLM spokesperson Phillip Montshiwa, who is yet to respond.
Residents, many of them unemployed, said they’ve appealed to various entities to have the issue resolved. They complained that some people from their community who had taken it upon themselves to ensure that their voices were heard, were nowhere to be found, raising suspicions that they had been given jobs as bribes to keep quiet about the matter, leaving them to live in bad conditions.
“They’re not coming here anymore, let alone answering our phone calls,” added Joyce Sibiya.
They said they’ve also been disappointed by members of the media who visited them but never followed up.
Residents said while all this was happening some houses in Dan Tloome were being rented out to others, leaving them with their school-going children exposed to inappropriate behaviour by some of the dwellers.
“There are many young girls among us and it’s unsafe for them here. We can’t let them out of our sight because of dodgy characters around us,” said Funi Mphahele, another concerned resident.
Residents said they didn’t sleep at night as they always kept an eye on their belongings and were concerned about their general safety.
“It’s much harder on the weekends because people are intoxicated and you never know who is who – they just come and go.
“It’s also hard to call them to order; they’ll tell you it’s nobody’s house, or tell you off. All we want to know is if there’s a plan for us,” Mphahele asked.
The Herald again approached RWCLM for comment, who is yet to respond.
