Six years without tap water: Hostel residents drink drain water spilling into street

Residents of a hostel in Johannesburg have resorted to drinking drain water spilling into a street after taps ran dry six years ago and have still not been repaired.  

According to residents, two blocks of the Jeppe Hostel built during the apartheid era have not had tap water after old pipes in the crumbling building stopped working in 2017. The toilets are also blocked.   

Speaking to TimesLIVE, leader (induna) of the Mzohlelo Mvelase hostel described the frustrations of hostel dwellers.  

“We are abandoned people,” he said, adding maintenance was “a foreign concept” for them and government plans over the years to refurbish the hostels were nothing but an “empty promise”.   

“They [government] do not care about us; I don't want to lie. We were promised many times that family units would be built because the hostels are overcrowded but nothing.”  

The Gauteng department of human settlements has over the years been engaging residents and making promises of refurbishments at six hostels under its management. They include Jeppe hostel.  

Mvelase has been living in the hostel since 1977 and said he had not seen any refurbishments since 1994.  

“In December last year, they got people to do cleaning such as collection of dirt that I can confirm is being done but not maintenance such as fixing the water problem. Life in the hostel is very difficult, it is falling apart by the day and I wish they could at least maintain it.  

“Building new family units would be ideal for people living here but the government says they don't have the money. We requested maintenance be done but still nothing,”  he said. 

Mvelase claimed hostels managed by the municipality were in better condition than those managed by the department of human settlements.  

“It is a shame that people live in such conditions but here we are.” 

One of the hostel blocks does not have a roof. It was blown away by strong winds in 2017 and has never been replaced. When it rains, water gushes into the building.  

The residents cover their blankets with plastic.  

Department of human settlements spokesperson Tahir Sema told TimesLIVE that six hostels it manages, including Jeppe hostel, have been in need of refurbishment for a long time, even before 2017.  

“Over and above routine maintenance and daily cleaning, the department started a project in the 2012/13 financial year, as part of hostel upgrading, where it built more than 200 multi-story family units in the hostel precinct.

“The department has been doing what it can to improve the lives of people in these hostels. However, the department is aware that more could be done in this regard.”  

Sema said by 2017 the department had already started the more than 200 multistorey unit development in the hostels and there was daily cleaning and maintenance.

Jeppe hostel residents told TimesLIVE family units that were supposed to be built for them were not constructed but the department built units in George Goch. 

Sema conceded the department had not conducted structural maintenance at the Jeppe hostel. 

“Currently, the department is finalising procurement processes with the intention to appoint six contractors who will be responsible for major repairs in all six hostels including the George Goch Stadium.

“It is planned that these contractors will start with their work in the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year.”  

Ward councillor Themba Mkhize warned that maintenance of the buildings was becoming critical.

“If they do not maintain, these hostels will collapse.” 

Mkhize said residents were drinking water from the street which had not been declared safe for human consumption.  

There was a probe into the water issue and the department found that the water system was simply too old and not working, Mkhize said. 

“Sometimes people get the water at night, while they are sleeping. The old system should be changed and a new system implemented.” 

Mkhize said he was hopeful things would soon change for hostel dwellers. 

“Hostel leaders met with premier Panyaza Lesufi and he promised us that by March they will do maintenance and repairs.”  

Mkhize said the residents wanted nothing more than to get family units. Ward committees said they were concerned because the land that was supposed to be used for family units was now an informal settlement. 

“In this day and age, it is a shame to have people living in such a poor state. Many people that live here are poor and are not able to afford rentals of apartments.”

Mkhize said hostel residents stopped paying for services in 2011, adding that, “we agreed with them that if they maintain again, we will again pay for services, we cannot pay while living in poor conditions”.  

Maxwell Khanyi said he had been living in the hostel since 1982 and over the years it had been “destroyed brick-by-brick”.  

“I am not supportive of the apartheid era because we were abused and jailed, but when looking at the state of the building it was not crumbling in those times.”  

He said dirty water running down the street, dirty toilets, pipes dripping water, and the drains not working could cause people to become ill.  

“These buildings can collapse and kill people any time because there is simply no maintenance.” 

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