Constable Samuel Maaka of Cleveland Police Station points at the Denver sluice.
Residents have raised concerns about a sluice along Main Reef Road in Denver that claimed the life of a six-year-old boy in August.
The tragedy occurred while Nkosimphile Dlamini was playing with his friends and their ball fell inside the sluice. Some residents in the area believe that he may have been electrocuted due to an illegal connection while he was trying to retrieve the ball.
It has been over three months since Nkosimphile’s death but when the Express visited residents at the Denver informal settlement, the sluice had still not been cleaned and was in the same state.
Residents said they voted for the Democratic Alliance (DA) with the hope that the party would bring change to their area. “I voted for the DA during the elections. I was tired of the empty promises that the African National Congress (ANC) has [made]. That sluice was supposed to be cleaned up and safety measures were supposed to have been [put into place]. I thought the DA would bring us better services but they don’t care about us and the safety of our children,” said concerned resident, Tshinakaho Mudau.
“We want this sluice to be cleaned up for the safety of our children. I don’t really care who fixes it. Our ward councillor, Neuren Pietersen, has been coming here and nothing has been done about this sluice. Why is it so hard for him to have this issue of the sluice resolved?” asked another resident, Gloria Sithole.
Constable Samuel Maaka of Cleveland Police Station points at the Denver sluice.
Mbali Mthembu said she has been living at the settlement for five years and there is no service delivery. She hopes the City of Joburg can assist in cleaning up the sluice and building a fence around it. “We are pleading with the City of Joburg to build a fence around the sluice. It is… December holidays and children have started visiting their parents. We don’t want another child to die in this sluice again,” she said.
Pietersen said the Johannesburg Roads Agency has not acknowledged the danger of the sluice and he will do all he can to resolve the issue. He said, “I am very disappointed [that] the agency has not taken note or acknowledged the severity of the danger that the sluice presents. The agency is letting the people of Johannesburg down and is not taking the safety of the citizens seriously. I will ensure that my calls are heeded to secure the sluice so that this tragedy is not repeated.”
An inquiry was sent to Bertha Peters-Scheepers from the Johannesburg Roads Agency on 6 December and comment was requested by 9 December. By the time of going to print, no comment had been received.
