Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s office has revealed that the provincial department is not directly involved with some of the hostels impacted by service delivery challenges.
This comes after residents of Diepkloof Hostel again took to the streets to protest against dilapidated buildings, which they want Lesufi to address as a matter of urgency.
On Monday, residents protested over unsafe and inhabitable conditions with some residents decrying the safety of their own run-down homes.
“We are happy that last year, the government responded positively to our cries for electricity and water. But what good is water and electricity when our homes are falling apart. We want the premier to come to us, and tell us what he intends to do about our situation,” a resident who did not want to be named told The Star.
One of the community leaders at the hostel, Sbongiseni Khoza, said their demands must be addressed to the premier himself.
“Our demands are simple and directed to the premier. We are saying he must attend to our issues because he promised us he will come with the mayor to attend to us.
“The mayor has told us that he has tried to engage with the premier more than once. We have had numerous meetings with the provincial government to help us with the hostel renovations,” Khoza said.
According to the Premier’s Office, only six hostels fall under the provincial government office. These include George Goch, Denver, Jeppe and other hostels, while Diepkloof Hostel belongs to the City of Joburg.
“Gauteng government has six hostels that are being upgraded, with cleaning and health services that also includes Wi-Fi and traffic wardens.
“Other hostels belong to the city, and the matter must be addressed by the city without the provincial government undermining the City of Joburg,” said the premier’s spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga.
Khoza said residents of Diepkloof Hostel are tired of living in undesirable conditions, adding that the community is also unhappy that Joburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda failed to address them last week, as promised.
“The mayor is also another issue that is not sitting well with us after he failed to honour his promise to speak to us last week… We want the premier to come with the mayor to talk to us,” he said.
Last week, Gwamanda apologised for not attending the launch of Diepkloof Hostel’s electrification project, after meeting ward councillors over the ongoing water crisis.
A female resident of the hostel decried the state of the hostel ablution facilities.
“Crumbling walls in our homes is not the only issue of bad service delivery we are facing. As women, we are badly affected by the state of our toilets. We get infections due to the bad state of our toilets. If you look inside one of our toilets, you will not eat for a week that is how disgusting they are,” she lamented.
Police spokesperson Mavela Masondo has indicated that even though yesterday’s protest was without major hiccups, there are two incidents of public violence that police are investigating.
“The police have been able to keep the protest contained, and without major incidents except for the damage to a JMPD vehicle and another vehicle belonging to the media.
“We will ensure that we maintain high police visibility until the situation is back to normal. So far, there have been no arrests for the two incidents,” he said.
Attempts to get comment from the mayor’s office were unsuccessful at the time of going to print.
Meanwhile, the MEC for Human Settlements and Infrastructure Development Lebogang Maile will on Tuesday visit Diepkloof Hostel, amid violent service delivery protest.
The Star