Vivien Damba, 64, who has lived in the KTC informal settlement near Gugulethu for 26 years, shares a one-roomed shack with her seven children and grandchildren.
She says she has been on the housing list for 25 years, but now she is tired of waiting. Damba was one of 200 KTC residents who marched to the Fezeka Municipality buildings on Wednesday to highlight their desperate need for houses.
The protesters, organised by the Concerned Residents Movement (CRM) and KTC Crisis Committee, claimed that the city had done nothing to improve their lives and they had been promised houses since 2001.
Carrying placards that read "We want houses now!" they gathered in front of the building, holding a petition they said they wanted to be signed by Chris Jaka, the city's manager of sub council 14, responsible for housing.
They said they wanted Jaka to acknowledge their concerns, including a lack of flushing toilets and the fact about 20 people depended on one tap for water.
Ben Londzi, secretary of CRM who handed over the petition, said they were giving Jaka only seven days to respond to the petition.
"We will decide what to do if they do not respond within seven days, and I promise something major will be done," said Londzi.
Jaka was not present at the protest, but another city official Lunga Bobo signed the petition on behalf of Jaka.
"I understand what you all are going through, therefore I will personally hand this petition to Jaka," said Bobo.
Some of the residents told the Cape Argus they could not sit around and do nothing, otherwise nothing would be done about their dire situation.
Grandmother Damba said: "I am heartbroken that these people do not fulfil their promises. It is so unbearable to live in a one-room shack with so many people. There is no water and no toilets."
She said her shack was too small for the extended family and that it became waterlogged when it rained. She has a 33-year-old son who suffers from seizures and when he had a seizure, Damba said, he broke everything in the tiny shack.
"I wish these people could see where I live and then tell me if they can live in that small shack," she said, her eyes filled with tears.
Another resident Mathews Lacky said they would continue to protest until they achieved results. "We're going to do this every day, even if we still don't get answers after showing them this petition, because the way we live is not even a place where pigs can live," he said.
Noluthando Fuma, 27, said she had a one-year-old daughter who had a skin rash as a result of living in a waterlogged shack at KTC.
The rain water caused stagnant pools to form inside the shack, she said. "The nurses said my child had a skin rash because of the conditions we live in," said Fuma.