Community members who are furious at the lack of sufficient housing and service delivery in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg, have met ward councillors to discuss their frustrations, which had led to public protests and the occupation of government-built homes earlier in the week.
Protesting residents of the “far east bank” area of Alexandra who belong to the Vukuzenzele Crisis Committee on Tuesday invaded a construction site in Alexandra extension seven, burnt tyres and occupied completed houses in the area while waiting for a response from provincial housing minister Nomvula Mokonyane.
These residents currently live in the shabbier areas of the township, such as an informal settlement called Ganda Centre that forms part of the greater Wynberg area.
“We live in unacceptable conditions. We live in shacks, and our shacks are burning and drain pipes burst all the time,” said Ntombenhle Phoswa, the organiser of the Vukuzenzele Crisis Committee. She said that residents want “proper houses” like everybody else, referring to the newly developed, government-subsidised houses in extension seven. These two-roomed homes were built in early March last year and so far 661 of them have been occupied.
Wednesday’s two-hour meeting was attended by eight Alexandra ward councillors, members of the Vukuzenzele Crisis Committee and a representative of the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP), which is responsible for the allocation of Reconstruction and Development Project houses in Alexandra.
African National Congress councillor whip William Chuene said that the ward councillors attended this meeting to hear residents’ complaints. “The main issue addressed with the councillors today is the lack of first-hand information on channels they can use to get through to the councillors,” said Chuene.
He described the meeting as successful. “I think that people’s perception has changed from a negative one to a positive one, and I hope in that in the future they will use the relevant and available channels to voice their concerns,” he said.
However, Frieda Dlamini, chairperson of the Vukuzenzele Crisis Committee, said that the meeting was not in any way satisfactory.
“First of all, there were no minutes taken at this meeting and the councillors had no agenda. That tells us that they did not see this meeting as important,” she said.
Dlamini said the provincial department of housing had not responded to the committee’s invitation to attend the meeting. “They are not paying any attention to us and this just means that we will go back to that construction site and demonstrate again.”
The committee’s Phoswa told the Mail & Guardian Online on Thursday that committee members were again occupying completed houses in extension seven. “We protested and burnt tyres on the construction site yesterday [Wednesday] afternoon and at night we moved into the finished houses with our sponge mattresses and blankets,” she said.
“We will be here until the mayor, the provincial housing minister and the minister of housing move us out. We are aware that what are doing is illegal, but we are desperate,” she said, adding that there was no police intervention in Wednesday’s protest.