Plans afoot to help KwaMai-Mai residents
Ms Xuba said the visit was a success as it gave insight on how dire the situation in the settlement is.
The Department of Housing visited the KwaMai-Mai informal settlement after a number of failed attempts to get the department out for a site visit to the settlement.
On March 7, a delegation from the department led by the assistant director Mr Ewarts Malope, project manager Gloria Lushaba and the regional coordinator Phumelele Nene, visited the settlement as part of a fact-finding mission.
“The purpose of the visit was to help in formulating a response to Petition P23/08/15, which was submitted to the City’s Petitions Committee. The visit has helped the region to do an assessment of the extent of the challenges in order to plan for a proper intervention,” said Ms Bubu Xuba, from the housing department’s communications department.
Ms Xuba said the visit was a success as it gave insight on how dire the situation in the settlement is.
“There is a need for an immediate intervention to assist the residents of the Kwa Mai-Mai informal settlement. The intervention involves a number of departments and housing will be coordinating such. Service delivery issues will be dealt with separate from the bigger project to relocate the settlement to permanent accommodation,” said Ms Xuba.
Furthermore, the department is coordinating the process to set-up a working committee that consists of stakeholders as a matter of urgency.
The stakeholders include Joburg Water to drain the water in the old factory and unblock the drains, provide chemical toilets as a temporary measure and to also provide more water taps since there is only one tap servicing the whole settlement.
Emergency Management Services will do a fire plan and supply firefighting equipment. City Parks will cut the blue gum trees that are posing a risk to the informal structures below them and Pikitup will clean up and provide bins.
One of the urgent wishes of KwaMai-Mai residents was to receive assistance in getting proper accommodation, as they are becoming ill from the living conditions in the settlement.
“The city’s plan is to move the residents from shacks to permanent residences. The city is looking at various pieces of land and other buildings in and around the Inner City to accommodate the community of the KwaMai-Mai informal settlement. Details of these sites cannot be divulged at this stage due to the fear of possible invasions,” said Ms Xuba.
Ms Xuba said the projects are still in the planning stages and it depends on the outcome of the feasibility studies as to how long the process to relocate will take.
The settlement has been in existence for more than 10 years and the CoJ has been unable to assist the residents.
Ms Xuba said the CoJ provided a number of interventions like the provision of basic services, which are now inadequate due to the growth of the informal settlement.
Asked why the MMC for Housing, MMC Bonakelo Daniel Bovu has not honoured requests to visit the settlement, Ms Xuba said, “The challenges raised by the residents on KwaMai-Mai are service delivery related and it is the city’s duty to deliver basic services to its communities. The MMC is committed to assisting the community by championing the coordination process of various stakeholders that have a role in bettering the current standard of living in the settlement.”
Ms Thoko Thusi, who is a resident of KwaMai-Mai and the chairperson of the KwaMai-Mai committee, said they are pleased about the visit as they have been requesting the city’s assistance for a long time, but with no success.
“I am happy the Department of Housing came for the site visit. It gives us hope that we will receive help and that better living conditions could be possible,” said Ms Thusi.
