[WATCH] Ekurhuleni metro flats neglected due to budget shortfalls – claim

Woe for pensioners as lifts are still not fixed at Pauline Davis.

January 29, 2019

Rivelle Govindsamy 4 minutes read

Jacqueline and her husband Samuel Rautenbach were one of the many couples residing at Pauline Davis for many years.

Various Ekurhuleni metro flats have been neglected due to budget shortfalls and delayed revamps across Ekurhuleni.

Pauline Davis Court, a pensioners’ residence in the Benoni CBD, is one such building.

A lack of working lifts for more than five years, rubbish not being removed due to alleged non-compliance of duties by the cleaning staff and a lack of stringent security measures, all form part of what is viewed by residents as negligence by the metro.

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Former resident Jacqueline Rautenbach, who died on January 15 due to organ failure, met with the City Times just days before she died, on January 11, to talk about the ordeals she lived with as a resident of Pauline Davis Court.

In 2012, Rautenbach was admitted to a hospital in Boksburg after breaking her hip due to her fall.

While at the hospital, she contracted methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is a bacterium that causes infections in different parts of the body and has a resistance to commonly used antibiotics.

Various complications rendered Rautenbach bedridden and she was unable to use to her legs in her last few weeks – and living on the third floor and with no working lifts in Pauline Davis Court, this posed a real challenge to her mobility.

She explained that her husband had to hold the fort and take care of the household duties as well as take care of her due to the sudden disability.

“I had to go the hospital last week because the pain was just unbearable,” said Rautenbach.

“The lifts don’t work so they had to carry me down from the third floor to the ambulance, and this was not the first time I had experienced this.”

She indicated that numerous complaints about the lifts had been forwarded to the housing department but that nothing had been done about the situation.

“With extreme pain and difficulty, we managed to get downstairs,” said Rautenbach.

“My husband and the paramedics had to carry me and my wheelchair down and the process was repeated when I returned from hospital.

“We had a meeting with Sinethemba Matiwane, the Ward 73 councillor in October and were told the lifts would be completed but nothing has been done since then.”

Other residents present at the meeting with Rautenbach, who did not wish to be named, listed the following concerns:

• Parts used to assemble the lifts being stripped down and used as scrap metal to be sold.

• Security risks like the main gate to the flats being broken for many months.

• Theft and other crime-related incidents due to this security breach (broken gate).

• An alleged 40 flats being empty and available for occupancy but still a waiting list applies.

• Vagrants entering the premises and occupying the empty flats.

• Exorbitant rental fees.

The City Times met on site with Clr Matiwane to discuss the various concerns and gain clarity on the matter.

“The lift contractor tender was signed on March 14, last year, and was supposed to be valid for six months, until September,” said Clr Matiwane.

“The tender then expired and a Section 36 report was done and comments sourced.

“The item was presented to the Bid Adjudication Committee and we are waiting for proper feedback.

“Most of the work has been done with installation of lifts being the final step needed.”

When asked about the alleged scrap metal claim, the councillor said the material had been taken off site until the project could be completed.

He also requested that those who require lift services ask to be relocated to the ground floor until the new lifts are installed.

“As for security concerns, the gate was damaged a few months ago,” he stated.

“It cannot be repaired, so it needs to be replaced but the replacement requires funding.

“An adjustment budget is being done now this month, January, and we will put through a request for funds to be allocated to this so it all depends on the adjustment.

“For now, a padlock has been put in place and a curfew for residents was made so that the gate could be locked on time.”

When asked about the vagrants occupying the rental stock, Matiwane stated the issue had been reported to the Ekurhuleni housing manager and she will investigate.

Matiwane addressed the exorbitant rental fee claims by stating that the fees are market-related.

“When residents apply, they go through an affordability screening.

“Some residents earn Sassa grants, others may have government pensions and some may have private pensions.

“Ekurhuleni also came to a council resolution in 2009 whereby it was established residents who arrived before 2009 would pay a standard fee and newer residents would have to pay the market-related fee.

“Based on these two models, the rent per household is established.”

Matiwane said cleaners will be monitored daily via spot-checks by a supervisor.

“It is also worth noting that 13 council-owned blocks of flats are affected by budget constraints in Ekurhuleni and so what affects one building has the potential to affect them all,” Matiwane concluded.