”In 1955 the Freedom Charter was signed in Kliptown, near Soweto. It was the product of a dream of ”houses, security and comfort”. Forty-nine years later the only reminder of that dream is in the area’s Freedom Charter informal settlement.
An African National Congress election campaign billboard that promises a ”people’s contract to fight poverty and unemployment” overlooks a dusty street. Green chemical toilets line one side of the street, adding colour — and odour — to this drab settlement. There are no schools in the squatter camp, no electricity and no running water.
The 5 000 families who live here share five taps for their daily water. They dream of the freedom to live in a healthy environment, to have their own yards and to go to the toilet without everyone looking.
Precious Masiteng (38), a married mother of three, has lived in Kliptown for 20 years. She is unemployed and her family depends on her husband’s income for all their needs. Her two daughters go to school in Pimville and rely on the school’s feeding scheme for lunch.
Masiteng’s tiny shack does not have a yard and the shack next door is less than an arm’s length away. She has been on a waiting list for a Reconstruction and Development Programme house since early last year, but does not have the R2 500 she will need to pay if allocated a house.
”The government is not saying anything about developing the place,” she sighs, but adds that she hopes it will do better in its third term. ”I have registered and I’m voting for ANC. I don’t change.”
Nono Brown (26) is unemployed. He spends his days playing dice on the street corner, gambling to earn a few coins to buy a loaf of bread.
The corner attracts groups of unemployed youths who are bored, frustrated and trapped. There are no parks or sports grounds and they don’t have the taxi fare to leave the settlement.
Brown has registered and says he will vote for the Inkatha Freedom Party because he has given up on the ANC’s promises. He believes the IFP can provide jobs.
He blames politicians for not developing his area. ”As long as they are comfortable in their positions they don’t think about the next person.”
In full agreement is Shimi Kewagile (27), who is also unemployed. ”The rich get richer and the poor get poorer than they were before.”
Kewagile has registered, but says he will not vote. ”There are no developments so what’s the purpose of voting? My aim was to vote, but I realised that political parties do not keep their promises, so I’m not voting.”
Steven Khwephe (21) did not bother to register. He does not see any reason to vote because, he says, nothing is changing. ”I came to Kliptown in 1994. People who were unemployed then are still unemployed.”
Adelina Makhele, a 25-year-old qualified nurse, was forced to leave her job as a home-based caregiver in Senderwood after being attacked several times on her way to work. ”Kliptown is not safe. I was robbed a couple of times because I came back late from work, and sometimes because of our shifts I had to take a five o’clock train in the morning.”
The informal settlement does not have street lamps. ”I always hear that police are patrolling the place at night, but I never see them doing that. If you see them, they are just standing in groups and chatting.”
Makhele doesn’t know who to vote for. She says political parties are confusing. ”I don’t know yet because once we vote, these parties do not keep their promises.” But she says she will check the party manifestos and choose one that seems to understand what she is going through.
Teenage pregnancy is high in the settlement says Sister Sheila, who came here in 1990 and works at the Catholic Pastoral Centre. ”The young girls and young men do not have anything to do because after matric there is no money for them to continue studying. People here are either semi-literate or illiterate.”
She says the number of people living with HIV/Aids is increasing and there are a lot of destitute children.
Derrick Nkomo, ANC councillor for the settlement, acknowledges that the living conditions are unacceptable. ”There are a few taps, it’s true. But there are no intentions to increase those taps because people are going to be moved.” He says the building of houses next to the Kliptown railway station will start in March.
Nkomo says the problem with squatter camps is that it is often difficult to know who really needs help. He says many people in the camps are from rural areas and come to Johannesburg to seek employment. ”They cannot afford rent for proper accommodation and end up invading unoccupied land and setting up shacks.”