WATCH: Water-logged flats irk residents of South Hills

A puddle of water welcomes you as you approach the flats of Jenny Peddie and Bukeka Ngomane in Atwell House, Delmas Street in South Hills.

Jenny’s emotions ran high when she talked about her situation. Her flat, like that of Bukeka, is almost underwater. Water drips from the roof day in and day out. They literally live in water.

“Somebody out there needs to help us. I am at my wits’ end about this situation. The leaking is intensifying each day. For the past eight months, no one has helped me.

“We’ve been to our local councillor, Faeeza Chame, for help; we are still in this situation and nothing has been done. Although she managed to speak to the director from housing, Hannes Davis, our flats are still dripping as we speak.

“I have children and grandchildren here. The floor is always wet. I don’t know how many times we sweep the floor. No human being is supposed to live like this. At one point I didn’t have electricity for nine days because of this dripping water,” explained Jenny.

Bukeka who is living with an eighteen-month-old toddler shares the same sentiment as Jenny.

“How is it possible that it can take so much time to fix this problem? We put buckets to collect the dripping water. And what happens when we are not home? Obviously, the bucket will be full and spill the water. This has been going on for two years for me. We are really tired of this situation we are living in,” she said.

Ward 57 councillor Faeeza Chame said the situation in those flats is a disaster waiting to happen.

“I reported this unit last year to Hannes Davis from the housing department and he sent out people to go and have a look at the unit. To my surprise, I was told by the tenant that they never returned.

“When I inspected the unit myself, I was shocked by the condition these people have been living in. I also noted that as you sit on the toilet bowl the water drips on you from the ceiling. The infrastructure at these units is very old and it is not properly maintained by the housing department. When we don’t maintain our properties it becomes a costly exercise to fix them.

“I have escalated the pictures of this unit to the MMC for Housing, Mlungisi Mabaso, but thus far I have not heard a word from him.

“Housing needs to come up with a maintenance plan for these units in order for us to not have the residents endure this type of living. It is not good for humanity,” she explained.

Davis, when contacted, said he is not allowed to speak to the media and referred the COURIER to City of Joburg’s Bubu Xuba from the Housing Department’s communications office. Bubu said she is following up on the matter.

MMC for Housing media liaison specialist Sibonelo Mtshali said, “In such cases, residents are encouraged to escalate the matter to the area manager. If they don’t find satisfaction, the regional office will be ideal. In this case, they must go to Eureka House.

“Furthermore, they can direct their concerns to the Housing Offices in Braamfontein. We are currently handling matters case by case and we don’t have a planned maintenance programme.”