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‘‘20 20 Y ears o ell’ Years off h hell’ — IIxopo xopo esidents rresidents PHOTO: NTUNTU DWEBA
A view of the shack and mud houses from the R56 on the outskirts of the Ixopo central business district.
>> With no water, toilets, electricity or work, the shack dwellers say they have not experienced the benefit of freedom NTUNTU DWEBA
>>ntuntu.dweba@feveronline.co.za
T
WENTY years of democracy means nothing to Ixopo residents who live in shacks near the taxi rank. With no water, toilets, electricity or work, the shack dwellers say they have not experienced the benefit of freedom as they live in abject poverty. Residents get water from taps in public toilets near the old taxi rank, which are closed on weekends. They are then forced to get water from the
nearby river. Thombi Khumalo (46) said they built their shacks in January after they were ordered by the Ubuhlebezwe Municipality to move to make way for the construction of a taxi rank. “We had been living where they are now building a taxi rank from 1994. The municipality promised to build houses for us but they are proving to be nothing but empty promises,” she said. Shesaidtheybuilttheirshacksand mud houses next to the old taxi rank as they had nowhere else to go.
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It is clear it was just a trick to get rid of us,” she said. Another resident, who didn’t want be named, said they spend their days drowning their sorrows with cheap alcohol. “People here drink every day, and with the little money they get they buy alcohol because it helps them sleep, especially now in winter when it is very cold,” he said. Several attempts to get hold of the Councillor Mthokozisi Ngubo of Ward 2 were unsuccesful as his cellphone rang unanswered.
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iron and wood so we can at least relieve ourselves,” Mkhize said. Mkhize, who is unemployed and has three children, puts food on the table by selling fruit at the rank. “One of my children has asthma because of the conditions we live in,” she said. She said most people who live in the shacks are unemployed. “We were told by councillors that we would get jobs when the construction of the taxi rank started, but that didn’t happen. Instead they brought people from elsewhere to work there.
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“To us it feels as though our municipality thinks that a taxi rank is more important than people.” Bongeka Mkhize (24), another shack resident, said they are being treated like second-class citizens. “Councillors and people from the municipality came here and put numbers on our shacks two years ago and said they would build us houses, but that hasn’t happened. We are tired of being lied to. “When we built these shacks in January we were forced to dig a hole and build a toilet using old corrugated
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