Hostel Induna questions residents’neglect
ALEXANDRA - A leader at the Madala Hostel said their hope for a better life ended the day former President Nelson Mandela died.
A leader at the Madala Hostel in Alex said residents’ hopes for a better life ended the day former President Nelson Mandela died.
“Mandela’s vision was for a nation premised on ubuntu and a civil service accountable to citizens – but that dream was shattered when he retired and it ended when he died,” said induna Sipho Mwelase.
He was speaking about the hostel’s abhorrent living conditions which he attributed to broken service delivery promises. “We risk death and sickness daily from a structurally unsafe place after years of neglect, unfulfilled maintenance funding, and from untenable health and hygienic conditions.”
Mwelase added that hostel residents were recently told by housing officials that there would be no more funding for the hostel’s maintenance. “We wonder if we and our votes are of lesser significance in accessing promised services and a better life,” he said. “We haven’t had water for two weeks, sanitation and refuse collection are erratic, rats invade rooms and bite us while sleeping, children have no play facilities, and the promise to convert the place into family dwellings won’t happen anymore.”
Mwelase said residents were constantly sick and there was the potential for an outbreak of disease due to overcrowding and piled up rubbish and effluent.
He said the entrance to the building was inaccessible for fire and ambulance services and refuse collection trucks. “We stood by helplessly in 2013 when firefighter trucks couldn’t enter the place to extinguish a fire that gutted the building’s roof,” he added.
Mwelase said some hostel residents affected by the fire were relocated to transit camps but have not been allocated alternative accommodation as promised. He added that some have returned, contributing to overcrowding and, in some cases, there were seven to 12 people sharing a room.
