Basic services may be down to a trickle, its soil hardly fertile and the topography of the area largely unsuitable for human habitation, but that hasn’t deterred people from settling there.
Within touching distance of a few vibrant economic hubs, the Bottlebrush Informal Settlement in Chatsworth is ideally located, and growing.
With local train and taxi routes cutting through its heart, the area is regarded as prime real estate for the working class and business-minded people who have settled there.
According to the voters’ roll, ahead of the 2016 local government elections, more than 7000 Bottlebrush inhabitants were listed as Ward 71 residents.
But those in the know believe its exact population must be much more, considering children and others, who were not eligible to vote and were not counted.
This settlement, which continues to expand each year through the efforts of land-grabbers, measures approximately 25 hectares.
Chatsworth suburbs Moorton (south) and Crossmoor (southwest), Shallcross to the north, Ridge Road and the Higginson Highway on the eastern side, border Bottlebrush.
A better life
The Ridge Shopping Mall, with its wide range of stores and job opportunities is a stone’s throw away.
Across the Higginson Highway is the massive Chatsworth Shopping Mall, and a large business district.
Sunset Avenue in Woodhurst, which runs parallel to the Higginson Highway probably provides the largest number of job opportunities.
Each morning hundreds of Bottlebrush residents make a beeline for the business hub that comprises mainly manufacturing operations
The pursuit of a “better life” into this proverbial land of milk and honey, has enticed many to travel long distances to make Bottlebrush a home away from home.
Phineas Matlala, 32, is one such person.
After dropping out of school in 2004 because of financial reasons, a few years of unemployment followed.
However, life got better for Matlala after he heeded an uncle’s advice and trekked from his family home in the Eastern Cape to Bottlebrush in 2007.
Matlala works at an eatery in the nearby Chatsworth Shopping Mall and his earnings provide sustenance for his family members living in an Mthatha village home.
Being boxed-up in a shack with no running water and evading the naked live-wire electrical connections which snake through pathways has become a way of life for him.
But Matlala is content with life.
Work is within walking distance, he has a place to rest each day and on weekends he can listen to music and watch football, even if the power is sourced illegally.
“I’m happy living here. My shack is not a palace but good enough for my needs.
“I got work within two weeks of my arrival. My family depends on my earnings,” Matlala said.
Ephraim Moyo (not his real name), 29, has travelled from Zimbabwe to Bottlebrush and since his arrival in 2008, he’s moved from being a factory worker to being a skilled artisan.
The business minded Moyo has since started to operate a tavern, without the required permits, he admitted, which has provided him with another steady stream of income.
“This is the land of milk and honey,” Moyo claimed.
He came to Bottlebrush with just the clothes on his back and loads of ambition.
“I married a local lady, we have two children and I’m also able to keep my family in Zimbabwe happy with the money I wire to them,” Moyo said.
Place of hope
Paris Singh who was the Ward 71 councillor for 20 years until he retired from politics last year, said many people, especially those from the Eastern Cape, saw Bottlebrush as a place of hope.
“The area is also a popular haven for foreigners. I estimate 30% of people living here are from neighbouring countries,” Singh said.
The settlement sprung into life in the 1980s, after the floods hit Montford, Singh remembered.
“A housing development was started on the nearby Lichen Road and Club Moss Gardens.
“More houses were in the process of being built in the area, But a sprinkling of people living informally in the area also demanded houses.
“When the informal residents were moved to an adjoining transit camp, their tenants who were not provided for in the new development, grabbed nearby vacant land,” said Singh.
It has been a huge challenge for the municipality to curb land-grabbing, which has continued over the years.
Singh said even a high court order couldn’t block informal dwellers moving on to a D’MOSS (ecologically sensitive) zone in the area.
“Many of the Bottlebrush residents have become business minded. They put up more shacks on their land and rent it out for R500, with electricity,” Singh revealed.
While some residents are happy with life in Bottlebrush and the opportunities it brought, things have not gone smoothly for others.
Service delivery strikes are commonplace, power outages caused by illegal connections have become an irritation for paying customers and businesses alike.
Local DA ward councillor Sharon Hoosen said parts of Bottlebrush have pre-paid electricity while the newer settlements are without.
“People are desperate and they require basic services. People are using illegal means to ensure they get services like electricity and water.
“They are frustrated with waiting for the city to deliver on its promises,” she claimed.
Hoosen said illegal connections were a big problem and the scourge had cost the city R200million since 2012.
“Land invasions will continue to be the norm if eThekwini’s enforcement department continues to work only from 8am to 3pm.
“And housing allocation must be done through a fair and transparent process.”