The residents of Kwa- Ndancama informal settlement in Fingo Village, which is the oldest township in Grahamstown, are still using the bucket toilet system and have no RDP houses.
The residents of Kwa- Ndancama informal settlement in Fingo Village, which is the oldest township in Grahamstown, are still using the bucket toilet system and have no RDP houses.
The housing development project in the area was halted in 2007 after human remains were discovered during construction work.
One of the residents, Nomalady Cangweni, says they are still waiting for the municipality to build them
houses and eradicate the bucket system.
“They say we must welcome the world during the 2010 Fifa World Cup, and we should be happy about it. How can we welcome the world when we live in these conditions?”
She added that they have built the houses they are occupying on their own. “We live in the dilapidated houses which we built many years ago, and now they are crumbling,” she explained.
Her sentiments were echoed by her neighbour, Thembelani Fene, a selfemployed resident, who said he doesn’t feel safe in his house especially on windy days because the wind can blow the roof away.
“I was born in here in KwaNdancama, and I still live in a mud house that was built by my grand parents. On rainy days the roof leaks.
They [councillors]are misleading us when they want us to come to the meetings, they say the meeting is about houses, and when we get there, we find that the meeting is about politics and their fights in the council. Nothing is said about the development of the area,” said a worried Fene.
Ntombethemba Tsili, who has lived in the area since 1990, says the biggest challenge for the residents is the bucket system.
“Only few houses have flush toilets in this area, many people like me are still using a bucket. The waste collection trucks collect the buckets two times a week, but sometimes they arrive in early hours of the
morning while we are still asleep.
The problem is that we lock the gate during the night, and when they arrive to pick up the bucket and find a locked gate, they simply pass and do not come back,” she explained.
She say the situation is embarrassing especially when she is visited by her relatives from other towns. “My relatives are not familiar with the bucket system, they sometimes had to go next door to get a flush toilet,” she said.
Another resident, Phumzile Sithole, who has lived in the area for more than ten years, said the municipal employees demolished part of his four-bedroom house to create a space for the RDP house, but he is still living in a mud house.
“They promised to come back and build a house, but nothing has happened since then. I’m now left with two bedroomed house which is crumbling, you can even see outside while you are inside the house because of the holes on the walls,” said Sithole.
Makana Municipality spokesperson Thandy Matebese admitted that the project had to be halted after the discovery of human remains in the area.
“We have collected the bones, and reburied them in a mass grave last December. Now that the process has been completed, the project will resume, but I can’t say when the project will start again,” he said.
Thembeni Plaatjie is an independent citizen journalist for Grocott’s Mail.
