Isipingo informal dwellers expressed hope that officials who have pledged to assist them in building new homes keep their promise. On Thursday, eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba and Human Settlements Minister Mmaloloko Kubayi unveiled the R200 million project to build houses in the Pilgrim X Informal Settlement, South of Durban. The development will begin in January when more than 400 housing units are to be built.
The settlement has 392 informal structures. Mthobisi Gasa has been a member of the Ward 90 community for 19 years. He feels they have been neglected. “We have a non-existent sewage system. Our homes are not in a livable condition and crime is a major issue. People get mugged, shot or killed. There are many things not going well here.” Zama Cenga, who has been a resident of Pilgrim X since 2002, says she’s looking forward to finally getting a proper home. “We used to live in Ward 76 and were moved here to Ward 90. We’ve been promised new homes for the longest time, but officials had previously said there was no budget available. We are faced with many challenges. We don’t have proper toilets and our councillor neglects us. Shacks are always burning here.”
The informal settlement of Pilgrim X is a ticking time bomb for disaster. The Municipality should have acted quickly to counteract the negligence towards the community. In an informal settlement that experiences crime, such as theft and murder and also has frequent mass fires resentment will build up. When they are speaking about having a non-existent sewage system, they mean they have nothing in terms of a sewage system. The squatters have to put up with a decadent smell. This the place where they have had to raise their children. eThekwini had years to tackle this issue even before the Covid 19 out-break, why are they moving now to tackle a neglected hornets’ nest so late. The crime and murder rates show that this situation could have been dealt with before the elections. There are hundreds of informal settlements across the country like Pilgrim X, the municipality should have sorted their problems out long ago.
Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has explained how the project will benefit the community. “We’ve purchased the land. What we will do as well is put bulk infrastructure in place for water, sanitation and electricity services, and roads. The project will also support the upgrading of the wastewater treatment plant.” Officials say the Pilgrim X project will take three years to complete and will include an early childhood development centre.
The Human Settlements Minister and the mayor needs to explain why his department and the municipality took so long to respond to building the infrastructure and housing for the community. The motion to purchase the land will not be enough, until they actually build the 400 housing units on that land for the residents of Pilgrim X to live in. A three-year period to complete the project sounds like it would take too long for the people it was meant for. They have been on the receiving end for too long.
As the municipality figures out how to bridge the housing gap taxi operators are staging blockades across Durban’s city centre.
Traffic in and around the Durban city centre has been disrupted following a second day of blockades by members of long-distance taxi associations.
On Tuesday, several roads around the Greyville area, in the vicinity of the Independent Newspapers’ officers, were no-go areas after drivers blocked the roadways with minibus taxis. There were also reports of cars being stoned and staff from various companies in the affected areas having to go back home due to the volatility of the protest. On Wednesday morning, more roads were blocked, including Umgeni Road and surrounding roads. According to the Durban Long Distance Taxi Association (DLDTA), the protest comes after several taxis were impounded in various parts of KwaZulu-Natal through South African Police Service (SAPS) Operation Shanela. However, according to KZN MEC for Transport, Siboniso Duma, operators are in the city to collect their permits.
Damage to property is unacceptable be it to vehicles or otherwise. The organizers of these blockades and riots should face criminal charges for the damages they caused. The Taxi operators have long held a mafia like grip over the city. It is with in the municipality’s power to decide if legal action should be taken against the Taxi operators. The main reason why the taxi drivers chose to strike is due to the fact their permits were about to expire. However, their desperation for the renewal of their permits does not warrant the destruction of vehicles or the obstruction of the said vehicles’ passage.
The obstruction of vehicles to the city centre ruins the chances of drivers arriving at their places of work. These employees are then able to do their work or to fulfil their basic necessities. The municipality needs to have a service mechanism in place to register the taxi operators and drivers with their permits.
It is now up to mayor Cyril Xaba and the municipality to determine how this plays out.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
