Joburg puts power, water into crumbling hostel

Gauteng human settlements and infrastructure development MEC Lebogang Maile yesterday acknowledged the province is facing a challenge with bulk infrastructure.

The Gauteng government needed R20 billion just to fix hostels in the province, he said.

Maile revealed the province’s 65 hostels were inhabitable with inhumane conditions, but emphasised government was committed to fixing the appalling living conditions of hostel dwellers.

The state of the hostels was due to bulk infrastructure not being extensive enough to cope with the increased population.

“We have done an assessment which indicated we need R20 billion to fix bulk infrastructure in all the hostels,” Maile said.

“We don’t have R20 billion. Our budget is R5 billion, which includes informal settlements.

“We have 1.2 million people who need houses, while we can only, at best, build 10 000.

“We can’t say we will solve all the problems,” he said.

Maile toured the Diepkloof hostel in Soweto, following violent protests on Monday over housing conditions and poor service delivery.

Electricity and water was switched on in the hostel, established in the 1960s, for the first time in decades last week.

However, the milestone was overshadowed by the living conditions and fears that the dilapidated buildings would collapse.

Residents were demanding that government refurbish the hostel, as parts of the brick structures and the foundation were crumbling.

“We have committed to making sure we look at these problems in the short-, medium- and long-term, working with the City [of Joburg],” said Maile.

“Part of the work is looking at the top three priority issues in each hostel that we can fix.”

A resident, Fizeka Ndlovu, said it was only a matter of time before someone was killed by a collapsing unit.

“I have lived in this hostel for 30 years and we have never lived like people with human rights,” he said.

“My mother arrived in 1992 but for the first time, we got electricity last week.

“We let them put electricity in these collapsing houses because we have no choice.

“They want us to fight and we will fight because we desperately want better services.”

Many residents were fuming after Maile left without addressing them, saying his visit was an insult to their grievances.

Hostel induna Dumisani Ncube said: “The MEC’s visit is not what we anticipated. He left without giving the community tangible resolutions. We thought he would lay out an action plan.

“The houses are on the verge of collapsing, and in some units, the houses are held up by wooden sticks.”

Meanwhile, hostel chair Sibongiseni Khoza warned that further action would continue if the city officials and mayor did not give sufficient feedback.