Residents of the Changing Spot informal settlement in Soshanguve have called on the Tshwane metro to provide them with basic services.
The residents have been occupying the land near extension 5 for three years. They have been calling for service delivery over the years, including RDP houses, better roads, water and sanitation.
Residents have been involved in numerous service delivery protests since 2015, according to community leader Dion Takkies.
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He said a petition was submitted in 2017 to different departments in the Tshwane metro.
“It is not because we enjoy protesting. We actually want to be provided with resources,” said Takkies.
“Two ward councillors from ward 37 and ward 90 have been walking with us through this journey. They know our issues and have previously made promises,” said Takkies.
He said living conditions in the area were not conducive for humans.
“There are more than 6 000 occupants, and only 30 toilets in our area. That is not enough for the families and individuals who live here. The authorities are failing us,” he said.
“The untarred roads make life difficult. When it rains, it is hard to get through the muddy roads and even ambulances cannot get through. If you have a patient at home, you have to carry the person to the main road,” said Takkies.
“Sometimes residents have to miss work because their houses would be flooded by rain.”
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Resident Lacilda Hiconno said it would be easy for them to run successful businesses should the metro provide them with basic services.
“We are tired of living in shacks. I have a business to run and once I have electricity, it will be easy for me. We use paraffin stoves currently and we are scared that it might burn our shacks someday,” said Hiconno.
Another resident Ali Serumula said: “If they could fix the roads first before the RDP houses, it would be better because we go to work wearing plastics on our shoes to protect them from mud and water after it has rained. We do not even have enough water taps.”
Ward 37 councillor Sankie Ntohla said residents built their informal settlements on private land.
“The municipality cannot do anything to develop the place because it is owned by someone. That is the reason we had a meeting with the mayor and the community leaders of that place. Even though we are still negotiating the land, we do provide other services where we do re-graveling of their roads,” said Ntohla.
He said the municipality still needed to locate the owner of the land before making any changes.
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Ward 90 councillor Enos Chiloane told Rekord that he had engaged with the residents and they held a meeting with the mayor on 15 April.
“We held a meeting with the mayor and we talked about the key service delivery issues in that area. Most issues that were outlined included proper water and sanitation as they are using mobile toilets. They also do not have taps for running water. Trucks deliver water in the area on a regular basis.”
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