Residents at Ada Flats in Newclare joined up to fight for better living conditions
Living conditions at Ada Flats.
The conditions of the flats in our community is not an unknown topic. Residents from different blocks of flats have joined up to fight for better living conditions and even after meetings with the Housing Department and Council officials, the fight still continues as the infrastructure deteriorates.
Marcia Miles, a mother of two and a resident at Ada Flats speaks to us about the conditions in the flats.
“The birds fall down from the roof and fall into a space by the geyser, they die there and leave behind a horrible stench. The ceilings in the rooms and lounge are buckling, and due to the fact that there are no gutters, when it rains, the water comes into our flats.
“There are many birds living in our ceiling and we hear them night and day. During summer, we have maggots falling from the ceiling because of the bird faeces. It is unhygienic and we cannot even sit and eat properly because of the dirt falling from our ceiling. It is inhumane to live like this.”
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The resident claims that this has been an ongoing problem since 2000 and even after contacting the relevant entities, all that has been done is that they send out contractors to go take photos.
Miles explained that there were contractors who came to take measurements of the roof and ceiling but has heard nothing from them after measurements have been taken.
“We have an open patch in my kids’ room in the ceiling; my son has asthma and the other had his adenoids and tonsils removed in November last year. I even went to the Environmental Affairs in Riverlea with this matter and they just came to take photos.
“We had to eventually seal off the geyser as the dead birds’ smell was becoming ridiculous. Recently, there has also been an owl that lands on our roof, it is huge and we are afraid of it coming into our flat,” said Miles.
Many other residents spoke about the conditions and said that they are tired of complaining. Ward councillor Susan Stewart is aware of the issues that residents are facing at the flats and said that the City of Joburg, unfortunately, does not have the budget. However, the Council tries to work on urgent matters first.
“The flats are in this state due to many years of neglect and in Ward 82 there is no or very little income coming in from residents. The City is facing many challenges relating to budgets and I understand the residents’ frustrations. From the Council’s point of view, we do not have the budget and we are trying to assist the residents where we can,” said the councillor over a telephonic interview.
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