After a man was found lying in a pool of blood near the entrance of a local container shop, Clay Oven informal settlement residents are demanding answers.

Despite repeated calls for help, emergency services and police only arrived in the late afternoon, after the community had began protesting to show how fed-up they are with their services. Now, residents are accusing authorities of neglect and failure to respond in time.

Residents say the man was found around 06:00 or 07:00 on August 25, visibly injured and lying in a pool of blood. They attempted to communicate with him, but his responses were inconsistent, at one point claiming he was from Kya Sands, then Alex, and later Oliven. Out of respect for the scene, the residents did not move him, but as the hours passed without help, frustration mounted.

Read more: Councillor petitions city to act over informal settlements

“We called in the morning, but no one came,” a resident told Fourways Review. He said he eventually went directly to the Sandton Police Station to seek help. “He had been lying there for hours. When I got back, the community was already angered and then protested.

“They don’t take us seriously because of where we live, but we are also human, and we deserve to be treated with compassion and respect.”

On August 26, again, the residents took matters into their own hands, when they held a meeting to determine how to uncover what really happened to the man. A small glimmer of hope in their search for answers was CCTV footage from the nearby container shop where the man died. However, it quickly turned into disappointment.

According to two community members, who wished to remain anonymous, the footage bizarrely displayed footage dated in the 1970s, rendering it useless for the investigation and only deepening their suspicions.

Also read: Philanthropist transforms Clay Oven building for kids to thrive in

“We hoped the footage would show what happened to the man, or how he ended up there,” said a resident who attended the meeting, “but what we saw was footage from the 1970s. How is that even possible, when the container was not even there by then? We were told to wait for at least three days until the police investigate the footage?” The man’s identity remains unknown, and no one in the settlement has come forward to identify him.

Police have not yet responded to questions regarding the man’s injuries or the circumstances around the CCTV footage. Lieutenant Colonel Mpho Tshetlhane was contacted for comment but had not responded by the time of publication, despite follow-ups.

Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok for the latest updates