New City folk blamed for outages
PEOPLE in the informal settlement New City are being blamed by Mariannheights residents for the frequent power and water outages.
New City came into existence about four months ago when a group of people invaded land and erected their shacks, which are mostly corrugated iron, and illegally connecting themselves to services.
The residents, who did not want their names to be published for fear of reprisals, said they were scared of being on the street in the evenings because most lights were not working.
An irate resident said: “A month ago, shack dwellers broke open the electricity box in Central Drive and connected cables from the box in broad daylight. They also threatened our community members.
“The police were called and the perpetrators were caught in the act, but nothing was
done to them.” Another said: “We have to deal with the filth, illegal dumping, intolerable noise and fires on a daily basis. We can’t sell our property for which we have worked so hard because no one wants to come and stay here.”
The residents said they asked the municipality to provide New City shack dwellers with proper water and electricity so they don’t resort to illegal connections because it placed everybody in danger. But this, they claimed, fell on deaf ears, prompting them to escalate the matter to the MEC for Human Settlements, Ravi Pillay.
City Watch has seen a response by Pillay’s personal assistant, Jurie Thaver, in which she advised the concerned residents to report any criminal activities to the relevant authorities.
“Due to illegal connections, our roads are dark. Again through numerous communication such as telephone calls to the municipality this has not been resolved since April.
The residents said they sometimes spend days without electricity and water.
A New City resident, who identified himself as Boxer and was reluctant to speak, said ANC ward councillor Reginald Cloete promised plots of land with electricity and water but has not delivered.
“When we saw he was taking too long to come to us we decided to help ourselves,” said Boxer. “I grew up in this area and I have seen people building houses while we are waiting. We were promised houses but nothing is happening. I haven’t stolen any electricity or water.”
Cloete refused to comment, saying: “I do not report to newspapers”, and hung up. City spokesperson Mandla Nsele said a meeting was held this week with affected parties and city officials. “The resolution was that the Human Settlement Unit is to number each dwelling and prepare a spreadsheet indicating each dwelling number, the owner’s ID number, name and surname. Once the electricity service unit has received that, a feasibility study will be conducted before electrification can commence.”