No lights, water or sanitation but informal dwellers still swear by black, green and gold

Phindile Xaba has been without electricity for a year after a fire broke out at the Reservoir Hills, Durban, informal settlement where she lives.

Despite her power woes Xaba will not vote for any other party but the ANC.

“We don’t have much of a choice, the eThekwini municipality is run by the ANC. It's the only party I know so well,” said Xaba, kitted out in her ANC ensemble.

“I'm hoping things will get better. It's been very tough. I'm not sure why the power has not yet come back. But we saw the municipality working here a few days ago,” she said.

She said illegal dumping was rife in the area - part of which was hit by rioting and looting during July's civil unrest - because residents at the informal settlement often did not receive refuse bags.

“But I'm faithful to my party,” she said.

A few kilometres away at the Springfield Hindu School in Springfield - another area left decimated by the unrest - residents from nearby informal settlements queued to make their mark.

One woman, who refused to be named, said she was voting in the hope that she could secure a better life for herself and her children.

“I live at an informal settlement in Puntan's Hill, where electricity and water is a problem. I want a better life, life is really hard. I am unemployed and we survive on a social grant.”

She would not reveal which party would earn her support.

Cindy Mabasa, also an informal settlement dweller, said she had voted for the ANC. “I really hope by voting for the ANC, I will be able to find a job.”

Mabasa supports herself and her three children on a social grant.

EFF supporter Shozi Philile believes some people were driven to loot during the July unrest because they were desperate. “Poverty is rife in the Springfield, Clare Estate and Reservoir Hills areas, where there are large informal settlements.

“People are suffering, they don’t have proper sanitation and children are picking up diseases because of this.

“Access to electricity and water is another problem. People are frustrated, it's like they have just been forgotten about.”

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