Lethabong residents demand basic service
Their daily challenges included a lack of water and electricity.
Lethabong informal settlement residents in the far east of Mamelodi have accused the Tshwane metro of neglected them.
They complained that their area had seen no new development as had other townships in Tshwane.
“We are still waiting for electricity, water and sanitation,” said resident Oupa Mahlangu.
“The mobile toilets are cleaned once a week and sometimes we have to wait for weeks to get them cleaned.”
Furthermore, the residents also suspected water tank trucks were bringing them dirty water.
Mahlangu said the government had forgotten about them.
“It’s almost like it is a dead and forgotten place,” he said.
“Everything needs to be fixed but since we were relocated from different squatter camps in 2010, the metro has made only empty promises.”
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The residents also complained about poorly resourced schools and clinics.
Mahlangu said the residents had “lost count” of the memorandums they handed to the metro demanding better service, and the intervention of the president of the country.
He said incumbent ward councillor Matlhako Maleka had failed to show them plans for the area at their last meeting last year.
Mahlangu said their daily challenges included a lack of water and electricity.
Another resident Raymond Paile demanded President Cyril Ramaphosa visit the area to see their living conditions for himself.
“The president must come and spend a week with us to see how we are surviving on daily basis.”
Paile said Maleka did not care about them, and demanded she step down.
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The residents demanded clean water and electricity for all, houses and title deeds, proper roads, parks and recreational facilities, improved healthcare, job opportunities, a mobile police station and proper schools.
They said the only thing they had were the high mast lights.
Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the city resolved in 2013 to speed up the formalisation of the local informal settlements.
“This decision resulted in the establishment of the multidisciplinary special task team (STT) to implement the assignment. The immediate objective of the team was to promote security of tenure for all beneficiaries in the townships concerned.”
He said one of the resolutions of the city was to register Lethabong as township under Pienaarspoort extension 21.
“A consultant was appointed in 2015 to undertake the township establishment as well as the surveying of stands in this township,” said Mashigo adding that but the submission of the township application was delayed.
Mashigo said it would be submitted before the end of February.
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