Residents demand houses from mayor

City to invest R5m to light up Kliptown

Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba was interrupted yesterday by Soweto residents who demanded houses as he tried to address a media briefing on the electrification of Kliptown ward 11.

The area, along with Pimville, has been marred by protests from residents demanding water and electricity.

Tempers flared after Mashaba and other executives denied ward councillor Madika Mabasa’s request that he address the community.

“Mayor, our community has a lot of problems so if you cannot address us now, please open your doors to us to interact with you because we have been trying unsuccessfully to contact you,” Mabasa said.

Pimville resident Thamsanqa Mdlalose, 46, said he lived in a back room at his parents house and wanted an RDP house.

Doris Mdlalose, Thamsanqa’s 75-year-old mother, said: “My siblings’ children have come to live with me as well. I cannot kick them out.

“There are about seven people in the house. Mashaba refuses to speak to us as the community. Why? These houses [in Kliptown] have been sitting here for years while we do not have houses.”

Patricia Zulu, 76, from Pimville, said: “I am sick and tired of this. I have two children and nine grandchildren I live with in a two-bedroom house. He [Mashaba] cannot just come here and not speak to us. He must respect us.”

Mashaba said he would ensure people who had been legally listed to get houses would move in in the next three to six months.

Continuing with his speech, he added he was ashamed that Kliptown had been neglected over the years.

“At night the area of Kliptown Extension 11 is a dark hole... This has been the story of communities such [as] Diepsloot, Ennerdale... We are investing R5-million to bring light to Soweto’s oldest community. This administration will be connecting 200 homes...”