Community members staying at Ward 2 E Settlement in Hlalanikahle, says they are living on empty promises since 1992.
“There are just no progress or development in this area,” they said
They also claimed that the area was surveyed some time ago and they were told that it has passed for development.
“We were told that in 2017 that last year’s (2018) budget will fund development in the area and development in the area was supposed to start in January last year.”
The group claimed that they met with Cllr Mduduzi Nkosi, a member of the mayoral committee and he promised them that he will send people to survey the area but according to them nobody was sent.
The group also claimed that some of their shacks are falling down because they are old.
Others claim that Cllr Jappie Msibi was once insulted by a person staying in the area a long time ago and they feel that they are being ignored because of that incident.
“We no longer attend community meetings because we are ignored and we are told that no development in our area will take place because we do not attend community meetings. We feel that we are being sidelined and our area is being used as a dumping site. We no longer have space in our yards to dig our pit toilets and we have a lot of leaking taps,” said the group.
The group also pointed out that one community member bought a stand in the area after he was assured that the area has passed for development and only to find out later that it was not, after buying the stand for R10 000.
The group also claim that other areas which have come long after them have been developed while their area has been left out.
Elderly in the area said that they were promised RDP houses but it has turned out that they were only empty promises.
Gogo Lilian Mhlanga (60), Gogo Anna Sindane (97), Gogo Magie Mabena (68) were interviewed and all confirmed that they have been staying in the area and had been promised RDP houses.
Cllr Msibi was contacted and said that he was aware of the problems faced by the people in his ward and said the issues of formalising an informal settlement relay on the directorate of DDP and Technical services and said his duty as a ward councillor is to make sure that all issues partening to development are put in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) to be budgeted for. Cllr Msibi added to say that E informal settlement is one of the informal settlements that is on the list to be developed, unfortunately E is not the gazetted name, technically it is called ERF1478 Extension 2 Hlalanikahle and that makes the community not to believe that has been budgeted for.
“Those pensioners which are mentioned in the article have been prioritised and they refuse to be moved to formal places claiming some cultural beliefs. They claim that they cannot leave their ancestors behind as they have long been staying in the area. This can also be confirmed by Mrs Kidibone Mokoena, a member of the ward committee staying in the same block. The issues of service delivery can be directed to the municipality for a response. Also the office of the executive mayor as it has full information about the matter,” said Cllr Msibi.
A questionnaire was sent to the municipality and no response was received.
