Must See Photos: Zamimpilo settlement not fit for human habitation

Life in the informal settlement of Zamimpilo has never been easy for residents

September 4, 2017

Janice Beckett 2 minutes read

Mgwambane stands at her daughter's shack with her housing document.

Life in the informal settlement of Zamimpilo has never been easy for residents there, with the high unemployment rate, health factors and crime, one is hard-pressed to call the area home.

Joe Maseko, a resident at Zamimpilo explained that the camp is divided into different sessions and that the housing department had provided each shack with a number for an address.

He has been living there for about 23 years now.

“I tried to phone housing in Pretoria to find out about my house and they told me that I already have a house in Fleurhof, so they advised me to go to Johannesburg housing and I went with my ID.

“They checked on the computer and said that my house is there in Fleurhof but even now I’m waiting and I don’t know what’s happening,” said Maseko.

He added, “This place is very dirty, I am afraid for the children because when they play, they play in a dirty place. This is not a place for living. We are here just because we are suffering.

“Even sometimes when you eat your food and you think about this place, you don’t feel like eating anymore because of this dirt.”

“When it comes to the toilets many of them are filthy and cannot be used by residents. There are a lot of rats because of the litter and other waste. When it rains, the whole place becomes a mud bed.”

Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that there was a lot of crime taking place.

“When others get houses they bring others to rent their shacks.

“The crime is coming from those outside of the camp. There are those who are running from the police to hide in the informal settlement.

“There are many ‘Zama-Zamas’ (illegal miners) living here. You will hear of someone getting murdered but the area is so big that it’s hard to trace where and who has been murdered,” said the resident.

A young boy has electrocuted a few months ago because of the illegal connections. Women are raped in the campsite and too often these cases go unreported. The resident stated that there are just too many things happening in the camp.

Councillor Basil Douglas said, “Right now it’s nothing but a ticking environmental time bomb. There was a fire last week and the shacks burnt. We are rebuilding now. If you see how they live, you’ll see that it’s just not fair.”

Photos: