Concern over poor living conditions in women’s hostels

THE South African Rainbow Alliance (SARA) party says it is concerned about the sub-human standards of the living conditions in hostels where women residents are packed in like sardines.

In a statement yesterday, SARA President Colleen Makhubele said the party was concerned about this situation, saying South Africans and women in particular deserve a caring government.

“South Africa needs a new kind of democracy, not a ‘voting democracy’ that only celebrates long queues every five years to only change the men on top! It’s not democracy if it is not an ‘income-earning and home-owning’ democracy.

“The ANC just picked up on the apartheid government’s intention to subject black people to sub-human living conditions in hostels,” Makhubele said.

She has accused the provincial government of failing women at Alexandra’s Madala Hostel, where, she said, women were living in worse conditions than they did during apartheid.

“The sad and scary reality is that hostels are now full of women and young people in Gauteng who have no hope of getting out or progressing as an unprecedentedly high rate of unemployment haunts them daily.

“Thirty years after the dawn of democracy, all the ANC premiers combined, including the cherry on top, Panya-Panya, have dismally failed over 6 000 Madala Hostel residents, especially women, in Alexandra, as they continue to live in appalling, inhumane and unsanitary conditions.

“Over the years, women have complained to deaf ears about the many problems in the hostels, ranging from sanitation, piping, leaking sewage and the smell. It’s an unsafe environment for women, where young men just grab their bags and run off with them at night.

“The horrible, unhygienic conditions of sharing toilets and kitchens are unbearable. The uncleanliness and lack of water, combined with a stench of urine, are unimaginable,” she said.

Last month, women staying at the

Diepkloof Hostel also complained of horrible living conditions.

A female resident of the Diepkloof Hostel told of their pain and the bad state of the hostel ablution facilities at the hostel.

“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.

Makhubele said after the elections, when the SARA government is voted into power, her party will ensure that it corrects the wrongs of the current government.

“We will, within the period of 18 months, address the housing backlog through a voucher system and cut the tender corruption that has failed to deliver decent houses for our people.

“Every eligible resident will get a serviced stand from the Gauteng Provincial Government and a R150 000 voucher to build their own home. The voucher is confined to building materials and labour.

“We will also deal with the corrupt housing lists and conduct an audit of hostel dwellers who have registered for house allocations since 1998/99, but were not allocated, to ensure that they are also prioritised,” she said.