Pretoria - High rates of unemployment and crime in Soshanguve were among the main issues raised with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa by residents on Thursday.
Ramaphosa visited Soshanguve and did a door-to-door walkabout to hear the main issues residents wanted the government to address. He said Soshanguve was his constituency as an MP and from time-to-time he needed to pay them a visit.
Lesego Motshegoa complained bitterly about the crime in the area.
“We don’t sleep. If you have a plasma (TV) you are in trouble. it’s bad here. There’s too much crime and these criminals have guns,” Motshegoa said.
She said their children were robbed of their cellphones when they went to the nearby park to access the Tshwane WiFi.
“These criminals get released, and the next day (after being arrested) we see them back on the streets,” she told Ramaphosa.
Fannie Masango, a man who had both legs amputated, was among the first to be visited by Ramaphosa.
His wife has been sick since December and their daughter who does not live with them has been staying with them for the past month to look after them.
Masango said he was happy with his living conditions in the area.
Elinah Mashala, who lost her leg due to diabetes, told Ramaphosa that work was scarce and even her husband had lost his job in Rosslyn and she was not working either.
“Unemployment is the number one problem that we have.
“We are making plans to create jobs,” she lamented.
“Stay strong, don’t lose hope,” Ramaphosa told Mashala.
Another resident, Esther Ntlatleng, said she had been waiting for an RDP house for many years and had been applying endlessly but she was still waiting.
Ramaphisa told her to keep applying and checking her status on the waiting list.
An awe-struck Sarah Hopane welcomed Ramaphosa and said that none of the people she lived with in her home worked.
She had adult sons who were unemployed and were looking for work.
The family lived on her husband’s pension money, she said. She was a year from being a pensioner herself.
Ramaphosa asked her if she had registered to vote.
“Yes. I was the first one there,” she shouted with excitement.
She indicated that they had water and electricity in her home and she was happy.
Pretoria News