The people of Ivory Park at Steve Biko section started 2020 on a bright note as electricity in their shacks has been installed, after 30 years of waiting.
The Steve Biko section was one of the first sections to have electricity. Community members were stunned by the news from the councillor when she addressed them about electricity being installed in their homes back in August 2019.
Today, they sing high praises to the local management as they can legally switch the lights on and off. For more than 10 years, the people of Steve Biko have been living on izinyoka-nyoka and relied much on candles and paraffin stoves.
The ANC ward 133 chairperson, Teboho Marumo, said the City of Joburg responded to the community’s 2017 mandate where they requested more ambulances, installing electricity in squatter camps and more fire trucks.
“The memorandum to the City is responding well. Slowly but surely, the community at some point losses hope in our promises and never takes us seriously, hopefully now their mindset shifts into the right direction.
“Before the festive season break, about 100 meter boxes were installed in the Joe Slovo squatter camps. We are waiting on the contractors to resume work and finalise the process at Joe Slovo,” Marumo said.
“Under Herman Mashaba as the City of Joburg’s mayor, we received five ambulances, in this current leadership we are hoping to receive more as Ivory Park, while the fight for the Rabie Ridge land continues.
“It would be safe to say the Human Rights Commission is still busy with the Provincial Housing regarding the Ivory Park / Rabie Ridge land,” added Marumo.
The Tembisan visited Steve Biko and witnessed the lights in the shacks. One of the people visited was Kgaugelo Maja, a 25-year-old woman who was born in the darkness of the squatter camps.
“I was born here, grew up without electricity and conditions were tough. At times, neighbours’ shacks would collapse due to fires,” Maja said.
“We are hoping that such incidents would decrease, as well as the crime rate, especially in winter. In previous years, we had two shacks that burnt down because of a candle, at least no one was injured.
“This is a legacy for our children, we are very pleased and grateful to those who advocated this development on our behalf, no more studying under candle lights, no more paraffin stoves and their harmful fumes, and no more izinyoka-nyoka connections,” Maja said.
Ward 133 councillor Julia Gololo also said it took a very dedicated team to make this living condition a reality and restore the community’s dignity.
“We listened to the community and never promised something we could not deliver, from Steve Biko to Sisonke section and Joe Slovo, people never believed anything until we started knocking at their doors.
“Lots of respect for Steve Biko people, when we started installing the electric poles they called on each other to rip off their illegal connections. While celebrating this success, we would like to remind people to buy and recharge legal electricity vouchers,” said Gololo.
ALSO READ: https://tembisan.co.za/97581/ivory-park-sections-to-have-electricity/
: https://tembisan.co.za/84680/sahrc-to-deal-with-ivory-park-issues/
