Following an article in the Addie on July 30, ‘Temporary solution for Daggafontein residents‘, in which ward councillor Shadow Shabangu claimed the Daggafontein Informal Settlement was more than 700m away from the residential area, a Struisbuilt resident has come forward to dispute this.
“This is not true,” says the woman, whose identity has been withheld due to fear of victimisation.
“I have measured the distance myself,” she says, “starting from where the shacks end to where the houses begin, and I measured 100m.”
The informal settlement residents were moved from Section B to the new Section D in 2013 as a temporary solution.
In the previous article, Shadow claimed these residents are to remain until other arrangements have been made by the Ekurhuleni Metro.
The distressed resident says the shacks are steadily creeping towards their homes.
“Many are selling their houses now as they fear this will decrease the value of their properties and they also fear for their safety,” she says.
Her husband says there are so many people who are struggling and cannot afford to sell their houses, but they do not want to remain in the area.
“It was always so quiet here, now you hear people throughout the night, and on Saturdays it is almost impossible to sleep as the noise from the shebeens is right on your doorstep,” he says.
His wife says they moved to the area years ago for health reasons and to get away from the hustle and bustle of town.
“Depending on the direction of the wind, you can hardly breathe as the smoke infiltrates our house and they are chopping down all the trees to make room for whatever else they are planning to build,” she says.
“We cannot live like this, something has to be done.”
Her husband adds they are all loyal taxpayers and have to pay for their services, while the settlement residents receive everything for free.
“We had a beautiful hall down the road, and in less than two months, they have destroyed the old building by taking everything they can get their hands on, all the windows and frames are gone, they are busy removing the last of the bricks,” he says.
Shabangu denies the informal settlement is 100m away and is due to meet with an Addie reporter on Wednesday, August 12, to discuss the
matter further.
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