Thuli Nhlapo
This week Alexandra residents who were forcibly relocated to Diepsloot Extension One last month waited in vain for a delivery of water.
“The people who bring the water in a truck said we must go and ask [Nelson] Mandela to give us water because they are not paid to provide for so many people,” said an elderly woman.
A provincial housing status report on Alexandra released three weeks ago says “a detailed assessment of sites and services has been undertaken in the Diepsloot area to ensure that there are enough sites to complete the relocation process and ensure that there is adequate provision for water and sanitation on site”.
The Department of Housing has not provided toilets either and the squatters use the long grass near a river than runs between Diepsloot extensions one and two.
“I am scared of being bitten by snakes, but I do not have a choice except to squat naked near children,” said one man. He was helping a neighbour build a one-roomed shack after she had been dumped on the street the night before by Diepsloot residents who said she had no right to be there.
According to a fact-finding Human Rights Commission (HRC) visit to Diepsloot, Alexandra and Braamfischerville, “children had been removed from schools without any plans in place to ensure that they were absorbed into schools in the new location”.
“I have been to the local schools but they could not accept my children,” said a father of three primary school pupils, who said he could not afford the R6 a child taxi fare for a single trip so his children could attend their school in Alexandra.
However, the HRC report said that “discussions have been held with the Department of Education to ensure that all learners are adequately catered for in both Diepsloot and Braamfischerville”.
John Ramaromo, principal of Muzomuhle Primary in Diepsloot, said: “Presently I have 1?611 pupils. I do not have room for extra learners.”
Muzomuhle classrooms are containers donated by Safmarine in 1996. Four classrooms are being built with money donated by Delta Airlines. Ramaromo said due to overcrowding in classes, some of his pupils cannot even sit during lessons.
Edward Chauke, principal of Rabasotho Combined School, said: “I do not have space for more pupils. That is the mistake the government made. We got a surprise like everybody else when we learned that more learners have arrived from Alexandra.”
Most parents of high school pupils said they have asked friends and relatives to accommodate their children back in Alexandra because there is no high school in Diepsloot.
“People wait for more than 30 minutes to get transport in the morning, but for now there is nothing we can do,” said a Bryanston Taxi Association representative.