Zandspruit residents demand urgent Government action
Frustrated by years of delays and broken promises, Zandspruit residents will march to demand answers from the Gauteng Premier and the Johannesburg Mayor.
Residents of Zandspruit are planning a community march to demand urgent service delivery from the City of Johannesburg and the Gauteng government.
The main purpose of the march, according to community representatives, is to raise concerns about the ongoing neglect of basic services in the area. The most pressing issue is sanitation. For the past three weeks, the community has been without waste removal services, leaving residents surrounded by unbearable odours due to unserviced toilets.
“Our area is not being prioritised. We are living in a stinky place while the government promised to serve the people,” said Ward 114 councillor David Mangena.
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There are 701 unfinished stands in the area, with residents frustrated by slow progress. There are also claims that the stands meant for Zandspruit residents are now being sold to outsiders.
Parts of Zandspruit go without electricity for days at a time due to what residents describe as a ‘broken and outdated’ power infrastructure. The community has called for Eskom to do a full audit and urgently fix the problems, but says the power utility has not responded.
Zandspruit’s roads remain in poor condition, with no improvements in the past two years. Community members link poor road conditions and lack of street lighting to rising crime in the area.
According to the councillor, the current Integrated Development Plan (IDP) has excluded Zandspruit from funding in 2025 and 2026. They say this shows a lack of political will to improve their living conditions.
The Zandspruit Urban Development Framework, which was passed in 2021, has not been implemented.
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Although the budget was approved this year, Mangena said there was no money allocated to begin the work.
Despite being one of the oldest informal settlements in Johannesburg North, Zandspruit still does not have a community hall. This is despite government resolutions passed in 2018 that prioritised development in the area.
Mangena and community members are now demanding a quarterly engagement with the Gauteng Premier and the Mayor of Johannesburg. They say they are tired of empty promises and want regular updates on progress.
“We want them to respond and not disappear. We want to meet them every three months and track development,” said Mangena.
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The march has recently been registered with the authorities, and a formal memorandum will be handed over to the premier and mayor. Residents are hoping for a meaningful response that includes clear plans and timelines.
“We need to know, do we still live in Johannesburg? Do we still belong to Gauteng? Because we feel like we’ve been forgotten.”
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