'We are forgotten': Taps run dry and litter piles up in Thembisa settlement

“We were dumped here and promised milk and honey.” 

Residents of Tswelopele Extension 8 in Thembisa, an informal settlement located next to the Mall of Thembisa between Clayville and Olifantsfontein, believe the City of Ekurhuleni has neglected them for years. 

Despite its location along the Olifantsfontein Road, which links major highways including the R21 and N1, residents claim they have faced unbearable conditions since being relocated to the area.

Pushing a wheelbarrow carrying buckets of water from the communal tanks to their homes is a daily struggle.

Residents claim the City of Ekurhuleni relocated them to the area in 2007 from a nearby Duduza informal settlement.

Community leader Abraham Hlongwani said he was one of the first residents to settle in the area. He claimed the municipality initially installed sewer pipes and communal taps, but the project was allegedly abandoned — and now they don't have proper sanitation or running water. 

He said when they moved into the area, the municipality captured them on a database and promised them housing subsidies and RDP houses.

“We are forgotten. All the areas around us were developed and yet we don't have water and proper roads — and we are using bucket toilets, which are only cleaned once in two weeks,” he said.

The area is characterised by high unemployment, abject poverty and a municipality that doesn't listen to them, said Hlongwani. 

“They [the City of Ekurhuleni] don't want to come on board. We have been sending petitions asking for proper service delivery. The most recent one was in April and is gathering dust.

“These portable chemical toilets, according to their policy, have to be shared by five households — but if you can get inside the portable toilets, they pose a health hazard.”

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Hlongwani said some sections of the area were electrified in 2018 but others were left without electricity. This has caused a division in the area as residents without electricity allegedly tap into the infrastructure illegally, while those who have electricity feel a need to protect the infrastructure. 

“We still have almost 2,000 households that were never electrified and people are fighting for this electricity. Those who had never been electrified are connecting illegally to our infrastructure, and that causes fights because we cannot permit them to damage the hard-earned infrastructure — but they don't have any option but to electrify illegally.”

Hendrick Kgomo, 58, who has been staying in the area since its establishment, complained that there are only six tanks and they do not cover the entire area.

“The water trucks used to come here daily but now they come once in two weeks,” he said.

The father of four said he has been unemployed for the past 20 years and relies on social grants. He said their area is surrounded by economic activity but many people are unemployed.

“We are in the vicinity of an economic hub because we are surrounded by an industrial area. There are firms in Olifantsfontein, and most of us are not working.”

Roads are not paved, there are no sanitation facilities and no waste removal, with some residents dumping litter in the river, said Kgomo.

“The road infrastructure is bad — even taxis don't want to come in here to drop commuters ... Our area is full of rubbish. People dump here because they don't have alternatives.

The municipality is aware of their problems but is not doing anything, he said, despite many petitions having been sent to them.

“We have submitted petitions to Ekurhuleni and they don't respond ... Our main concern is to get sewers — it should be the priority, and I think the rest can follow.”

Sometimes these toilets are full and are not drained in time — and when you're done there, you must take a wheelbarrow and go fetch water and ensure the kids bathe and eat

—  Letta Mahlangu, resident

Another resident, Letta Mahlangu, said when she wakes up every morning she is faced with the same challenge.

“Sometimes these toilets are full and are not drained in time — and when you're done there, you must take a wheelbarrow and go fetch water and ensure the kids bathe and eat,” she said.

“Trucks fill the [water] tanks, but sometimes they just don’t fill up.

“The roads are bad. The taxis dropped us far from where we stay because of these roads,” she added.

City of Ekurhuleni municipal spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said the area does not have bulk water and sewerage, so the municipality assists with communal water tanks and chemical toilets. 

“The areas that do not have communal taps are supplied with water through tankers every day,” he said, adding that the chemical toilets are cleaned once a week.

The municipality grades gravel roads once per quarter, Dlamini said.

While the land belonged to the municipality, certain portions are affected by environmental constraints, he added. “For example, the areas that are located in environmentally sensitive areas like a floodline cannot be provided with electricity infrastructure because it can be dangerous for them.”