“We can’t do anything, we too scared to sleep in the room…”
Another family without a ceiling.
Taryn Elias and her family who live at the Hester Flats in Westbury have been living uncomfortably for the past two weeks.
She has a two-month-old baby and a seven-year-old son who has to live with their parents in a flat where the ceiling has caved in. According to Elias, the ceiling fell in after the heavy rains two weeks ago.
“I’ve been to the council on numerous occasions for help but they said due to the lack of funds they are unable to help at this point,” said Elias.
The other ceilings in the rooms also have cracks and the bedroom’s ceiling is leaking.
“We can’t do anything, we too scared to sleep in the room because we are afraid of the ceiling falling on us. My two-month-old baby is sick ever since the ceiling fell in,” she said.
The resident is also afraid that anymore can come into their living space through the ceiling. At the time of the interview, the family was moving up and down to family living in other units.
Ward Councillor Susan Stewart commented by staying: “The flats are and will be an ongoing issue until the City has enough money to properly renovate the flats. All flats are in terrible conditions due to years of neglect and there are no easy solutions.
“Repairs are done as and when there is money available to do repairs and even the repair work will not address the dilapidating condition of the flats.”
“Serious intervention is the only solution but unfortunately, that would need hundreds of millions of rands to be spent on such interventions and the City does not have that kind of cash injection currently. I do believe that circumstances will change.”
“Right now, the City has to do its best to collect revenue, streamline the process, continue to decrease corruption and ensure increased intake of cash flow so that proper interventions can be implemented to improve the condition of people living in council rental stock.”
