Residents of Thabo Mbeki concerned about their safety
Residents staying at the Thabo Mbeki informal settlement's fears stem from the fact that their shacks are build under electrical pylons.
Residents staying at the Thabo Mbeki informal settlement say that they are living in fear every day of their lives especially in summer during the rainy season.
Their fears stem from the fact that their shacks are build under electrical pylons, and they have been staying there for a long time.
“Every time there is lightning, our shacks are affected, and we get shocked when we touch the walls. This problem has been going on since April 2018. We have reported the matter to our ward councillor and executive mayor as well. Even Eskom and Transnet are aware of our situation as our shacks are close to the railway line,” said one of the members of the community.
The members also said one of the lines has been cut and it fell on one of the shacks. They also said that at one time they even contacted Mr Speedy Mashilo former MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs together with the executive mayor. They said they were told to submit a list of all the affected houses, which they did. They also claim that some shacks have identical numbers, and they raised that to their councillor as well.
Residents are also concerned about the safety of their children when there is lightning because the children sometimes run to a safe place, but there are other young children who cannot do that. They are also concerned about a gas pipe running near their shacks as well and people dumping in their area.
“We have nowhere to stay, and we stay even if it is dangerous to do so, what can we do? Maybe if we could be relocated to other safe areas like Siyanqoba our lives can be much better.
Cllr Audrey Mtsweni in her response said she is aware of the problems as well as the executive mayor. “Some of the people who used to stay in shacks were allocated to houses in Klarinet because their applications were approved in 2014. People need to be patient because we are still waiting for allocations. Another problem is that people were moved from that place because it is dangerous to build shacks under pylons and in sink-holes areas.”
Cllr Mtsweni added to say that some people after being moved to safe places rent out their shacks instead of leaving the place. She explained that the incident of power lines was reported to Eskom.
