Note to Editors: Attached is an English soundbite from DA MPL, Mervyn Cirota.
Khutsong hostel in Carletonville, Merafong Local Municipality, resembles a scene ravaged by a powerful tornado: a disordered and crumbling environment where residents’ dignity is non-existent. Residents are left to cope with appalling living conditions, marked by rundown infrastructure and a complete absence of basic services. This is despite the Gauteng Provincial Government allocating R161 million for the upliftment and relocation of residents from this decaying hostel.
A Democratic Alliance (DA) delegation recently conducted an oversight inspection at the Khutsong hostel, and we discovered that this hostel is home to approximately 1,500 residents, is plagued by broken windows, deep cracks in the walls, and a complete lack of water supply. Sanitation conditions are deplorable, with raw sewage flowing freely through the yard, where young children play. Furthermore, navigating through the yard has become a hazardous task due to the presence of a web of illegal electricity connections. Wires stretch dangerously from the hostel units to the nearby township, posing serious safety risks to residents. This has led to conflicts with residents of the nearby township, who are frustrated by the power cuts caused by the hostel residents tapping into their electricity supply.
Inside the units, the conditions are less than ideal. The toilets and showers are not functioning, making it difficult for residents to maintain basic hygiene. Additionally, several doors are missing, which compromises both privacy and security. The walls are in a state of disrepair, with peeling paint and extensive damage that adds to the overall sense of neglect.
See photos here, here, here and here.
The residents feel abandoned and forgotten, a sentiment heightened by their frustration that provincial and local government leaders only visit the hostel during election season to make empty promises. Once the votes are cast, these leaders vanish, reappearing only as the next election approaches. The resonating question among them is: Where is the R161 million budgeted to improve conditions in this hostel or relocate them? Why have these units not been converted to family units as promised, and in terms of policy?
In this context, the DA Gauteng demands specific details regarding Gauteng Human Settlements MEC Tasneem Motara’s recently announced R500 million hostel refurbishment project, mentioned during her visit to various inner-city hostels in Johannesburg. In particular, why is this refurbishment an upgrade and not a conversion to family units?
The MEC must now accept that all 65 hostels in Gauteng, not only the six owned by the Gauteng Provincial Government, must be incorporated into the Gauteng Hostel Redevelopment Programme, as Merafong is unwilling and unable to attend to its obligations; this responsibility must now be taken over by the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements.
The DA Gauteng urges Premier Panyaza Lesufi to convert all Gauteng’s hostels into viable family units under the Hostel Redevelopment Programme, rather than shifting the responsibility to incapable municipalities like Merafong.
A DA-led Gauteng provincial government would have implemented the Hostel Redevelopment Programme to ensure that no hostel resident lives in the inhumane conditions witnessed at Khutsong and many hostels we have visited.