Residents of amaXhosani informal settlement are tired of living in filthy environment
One of the residents who claimed to have been living in the settlement for 15 years Sakhumzi Mchithakali said the condition worsens every year.
The smell of faeces and overflowing sewage is what residents of amaXhosani informal settlement have to deal with everyday.
Residents said they are used to sleeping and walking around the dirty and stinking place they call ‘gibberish’.
One of the residents who claimed to have been living in the settlement for 15 years Sakhumzi Mchithakali said the condition worsens every year.
He said that the state of their settlement has caused numerous residents to be admitted to hospital.
“People get sick because their health condition cannot handle the stench stemming from sewer and heaps of waste laying around the settlement.
“Even I cannot take this anymore. We are living in these conditions as if we have never voted, while we have voted six times since 1994,’ said Mchithakali.
Residents added that the mobile toilets given to them are not well maintained as it takes several weeks for the toilets to be drained.
Another resident Jack Sipetuxolo said: “Children play everywhere and they sometimes get dirty with mud and a mix of faeces.
“We as the residents tried cleaning the place ourselves but because we don’t have proper cleaning material it becomes difficult to clean.”
Residents told the COURIER President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the settlement a few years ago and they claim the president promised them decent living but that never materialised.
They demand to be moved to a better place.
“If we can be given a place we can be happy. We don’t want a place where we will be required to pay because most of us are not working,” said Sipetuxolo.
Councillor Mongameli Mnyameni said he will conduct an oversight visit to the settlement and he wants to go with JRA so that they can also witness the state of the settlement.
