The living conditions of tenants at Eeufees Oord Retirement Village have become increasingly difficult as they continue to contend with a range of unresolved issues, including safety concerns, poor maintenance, mould, illegal dumping and vandalism.

The publication has been reporting on the problems that have become a recurring nightmare, with many tenants having repeatedly raised their concerns with the relevant departments in the hope of intervention.

However, they claim their complaints have largely gone unanswered.

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Responding to the concerns on July 2, City of Johannesburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said the city is aware of the safety concerns raised by residents because of security challenges at the village.

“However, the city has not been informed or made aware of daily crime incidents as indicated, but will follow up,” Modingoane said.

Addressing concerns over poor lighting, water leaks, damaged infrastructure and health hazards, Modingoane said the facility requires extensive refurbishment to deal with its ageing infrastructure.

He said the planned work includes repairs to deteriorating roofs and gutters, improvements to the water and sewer reticulation networks, and other upgrades aimed at improving the overall condition and long-term sustainability of the retirement village.

Budget remains an issue for refurbishments.

According to Modingoane, these upgrades have been included in the department’s five-year maintenance plan as part of a broader programme to improve the facility.

“However, budget allocation for major refurbishment projects remains constrained due to limited financial resources,” he said.

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Modingoane added that the Department of Human Settlements remains responsible for maintaining public housing stock, including senior citizen villages.

He said the department continues to respond to reported maintenance faults as they arise, but acknowledged that the age and deteriorating condition of the infrastructure make it increasingly difficult to keep up with the growing maintenance demands.

A process to address the maintenance backlog at Eeufees Oord has already been initiated and is intended to tackle the building maintenance issues that have been reported.

However, Modingoane said the process is still underway while the necessary internal procedures are being finalised.

He noted that, while this process continues, new maintenance faults are still being reported.

Those issues fall outside the current maintenance request already being processed and are being consolidated to follow the department’s internal maintenance request procedures.

In the meantime, the department will continue carrying out ad hoc reactive maintenance on reported faults that fall within the prescribed process thresholds, subject to the availability of funding.

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