In an ironic twist to a major urban renewal project, families moved to make way for a Mandela heritage site in Alexandra are complaining that their new houses are inferior to their old ones — and have been built close to the Jukskei river floodline.
The 42 families were notified last November, after months of talks, that they had two days to pack up. Now they claim the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) threatened they would be forcibly removed if they did not sign a voluntary agreement.
The ARP is a R1,3-billion urban renewal project that aims to improve the quality of life of residents. Goals include upgrading the physical area and the socio-economic conditions of residents by reducing unemployment, upgrading housing and providing a healthy living environment.
Since 2001, 7 500 people have been moved and re-housed away from the banks of the Jukskei river. More than 1 100 houses have been built, and the Jukskei Bridge has been widened.
Eight of the families living in Mandela Yard, where a young Nelson Mandela rented a room in the 1940s, have been moved 5km away to Extension Eight, about 100m from the Jukskei river.
Their houses measure 5mx7m, and, says resident Lina Ntamehlo, her toilet leaks, the house is not plastered, and she has only a small bucket for bathwater. Stains 15cm high, from summer rains, are evident on the outside wall; the internal floor is level with the ground outside, and rain water runs under the walls.
The house the family left behind was a plastered brick structure, built without permission. Their current one-room house is big enough only for a bed and two benches, but it houses five family members. Ntamehlo had to leave her son’s bed, a television and refrigerator behind in a transit village.
Ntamehlo says the houses have been built on an underground water source and with a damp course, but not a foundation. Residents have dug around the houses so that rainwater can run down the sandy slope into the Jukskei.
Kenneth Mazibuko was moved from a four-room house in Mandela Yard. He says water leaks under the walls of his new house when it rains, wetting the six children in his family, who sleep on the floor.
As a young boy herding cattle, he says he saw the flooded Jukskei reach the edge of the site where he now lives and he is convinced that his house and all his possessions are in danger of flooding. A large, unfenced and smelly sewage pit near the house is a danger to the children; he is concerned that they might fall into it.
Mazibuko reaches out to take a piece of mortar off the wall, crumbling it in his hands. He complains the walls are porous and cold air whistles through at night. Ten bags of cement were allocated to building each house but, he says, he saw builders selling five of them and only using five to build the houses.
Mike Morkel, the ARP housing coordinator, rejects claims that the new houses are inferior in quality to the old ones. The families, he says, have full ownership of the new brick and mortar houses. ”They were re-housed from a shack. They had no ownership rights. They were there illegally.”
Morkel says the houses are under warranty, so if the families lodge a complaint he will resolve the problems. He says developers had already sent plumbers to the houses to fix problems. ”We are not a Mickey Mouse project; we take our responsibilities seriously.”
The houses were built by a reputable builder, Morkel says, and while he does not believe they are badly built, he concedes there is potential for theft on site.
But he denies the houses are in danger of flooding, as plans were approved by the planning department and by engineers. And although there is no electricity yet, he says, it is imminent; R1-million in funding has already been set aside.
As for the claim that families in Mandela Yard were forcibly relocated: ”Every person who moved signed a voluntary agreement. We spent 15 months talking with them; we could have evoked an eviction order.” He concedes the two-day moving period was not ideal, but says the residents placed pressure on the ARP to move them before Christmas.
Additional reporting by Mmanaledi Mataboge