The neglected residents of Waterworks Informal Settlement in Lenasia South do not have access to running water or proper sanitation and the roads are in a terrible state.
The residents have been provided with Jojo tanks that are not regularly filled with water. In some instances, they have been left without water for two to three days. The residents have been left with no choice but to travel to nearby areas to ask for water or collect water from potholes.
This is undignified and a health hazard. Water is life, depriving residents of access to water is unconstitutional.
Recently, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Members of the Human Settlements Portfolio Committee, Mervyn Cirota MPL and Evert Du Plessis MPL and the DA Constituency Head for Lenasia South, Nicola Du Plessis conducted an oversight inspection at the Waterworks informal settlement. We discovered the appalling conditions to which the residents are exposed daily.
There is a severe lack of basic services and no schools within the area.
The DA is assisting the residents in submitting a petition to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Petitions Committee demanding essential services. We will also write to the Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements, Lebogang Maile, to ascertain when this informal settlement will be formalised and why the department is failing to provide essential services to these residents.