The South Africa Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) condemned the living conditions people were being subjected to at the Randgate Community Hall.
Also read: Residents who were promised housing left to live in hall
“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 marks one year since they were promised government-subsidised houses at the Dan Tloome Housing Project.
SAHRC officials visited the Hall on Monday February 7 to conduct an inspection after the Herald had reported on the matter.
Its Gauteng Provincial Office (GPO) representatives said the conditions were a gross violation of human dignity. Their move was supposed to be temporary (three weeks only); however, they’d been there for almost a year.
Officials were shocked by the conditions the 12 families – many of them children and people with disabilities –were subjected to since February 13, 2021.
Zamantungwa Mbeki, Senior Legal Officer at SAHRC, said the situation constituted a violation of people’s right to dignity; right to family life; and the right to family which was compounded by the lack of shelter, which is their primary predicament. The lack of proper ventilation posed a health threat, especially since it created the ideal conditions for the coronavirus to spread.
You can’t be showering in front of everybody; children and people are living in intimate spaces. Some women have given birth here; people can’t live in spaces where there aren’t barriers and everyone is allowed to do as they please,” Mbeki condemned.
She further explained that people’s intimate rights like privacy and the right for people to practice their own religious beliefs are easily overridden due to the lack of private shelter, as they don’t have the freedom to control their own affairs in the comfort of their homes.
She further commented on the broken windows; unrelated men, women and children living in close proximity; and the ‘surprising’ fact that the issue had been left to drag on for such a long time, especially considering that 12 families were affected.
We’re not talking about a community of 5 000 people here,” Mbeki added.
What Mbeki also found concerning was that various people, among them high-ranking politicians and representatives of various entities and organisations had been to the hall, making empty promise without giving any feedback, something which she said had broken the trust of the dwellers.
The Herald informed Mbeki of the lack of response from the RWCLM, to which she said, “The Commission has a broad mandate where we can subpoena them and use various internal channels to get them to respond”.
The most important thing in this case, she added, was not merely getting response but actually getting the people help; getting them out of the hall.
As soon as they have a meeting with the municipality, the Commission could go as far as imposing the time fame and indicating as to when the people would be moved.
We need to engage with the municipality, and find out what the delay is in providing the community members with the housing that they were promised,” Mbeki said.
She also stressed the importance of transparency by the RWCLM, as they should inform the community about the reasons for the delay in providing them with proper housing.
“If not, other suitable temporary accommodation should be provided for them. There is that provision.”
Mbeki said the SAHRC would make efforts to meet with RWCLM representative in the near future and would communicate any developments with the residents.
