Kwazenzele residents want bulk services from Lesedi Local Municipality

The residents of Kwazenzele Informal Settlements are tired of waiting.

The residents have been waiting for 11 years to receive the houses the Lesedi Local Municipality promised them.

“We first registered for houses with the municipality in 2007.

“Since then, the Department of Housing has come around, as well as the municipality.

“They say the contractors will be on site in two weeks but nothing happens after that,” says resident Jabu Madela.

The residents allege that the Lesedi Local Municipality has given conflicting reasons for why the RDP houses have not been built.

The first time around, the residents allege that the municipality said the contractor will be on site in two weeks as province has signed off on the project but when questioned by the residents after the said two weeks, the municipality allegedly said they were waiting for the province to sign off on the project.

After 11 years, the residents have lost all hope.

“If the municipality cannot build the houses, they must just say so.

“If it is a budget issue, they must provide proof of what they have done with the money over the years.

“We don’t want to protest anymore, we are tired of burning tyres.

“They must stop calling us to meetings just to lie to us,” says resident Molefe Mkhwebane.

The land that was earmarked for the houses stands vacant.

The residents say that at this point, all they want is for the municipality to subdivide the land so they can build the houses themselves and provide bulk services.

The informal settlement also does not receive any municipal services and allege that they have asked for communal bins and high mast street lights but they have had no response from the municipality.

The residents share three taps and say they are often sick because of the conditions they are living in as their houses often flood when it rains and their toilets overflow into their yards.

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The residents of the informal settlement are now worried how they will survive the coming Winter.

Residents at Kwazenzele rely on wood fires to keep warm and fear accidentally burning the settlement down as they have no fire-fighting equipment.

Ward Councillor for Kwazenzele, Simon Myakeni says, “The issue of housing is a very serious issue and it has been addressed.

“The contractor has been appointed and we’re waiting for province to sign off on the project.”

The Lesedi Local Municipality failed to respond in time for publication.

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