http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=186507

Daily Dispatch 27/3/2008

‘We want delivery, not more promises’

NOW WALK YOUR TALK, MAYOR: Angry informal settlement residents from Mdantsane protest against a lack of service delivery in front of East London City Hall. Picture: SINO MAJANGAZA

By SINO MAJANGAZA

HUNDREDS of residents from four different settlements last week marched to the East London City Hall in protest against what they called “municipal sabotage”.

About 300 people from NU1, NU2, NU3 and NU10 informal settlements claim there are deliberate attempts to deny them basic services.

With placards reading “Zintle Peter stop playing games with us”, they marched from the North End stadium and down Oxford Street, singing le nto uyenzayo ayilunganga (What you are doing is not right) at the top of their voices. They claim they have been denied access to basic services for far too long, as their settlements have no proper sanitation, running water or electricity. To make it worse, some are getting water and electricity bills for houses that have not yet been built.

Among the marchers was 54-year-old Nowi Gajula, who said she joined the march because she was tired of the life that she and fellow residents of Gqozo village were living.

“I only want a house; I stay in a dilapidated shack,” she said.

Speaking on behalf of the residents, Primrose Ntondini said they had run out of patience.

Ntondini has been staying in Nkomponi informal settlement in NU1 for 18 years. “We never benefited from government’s promise of a better life for all. We are suffering and no one seems to be interested,” she said.

Ntondini accused the municipality of neglecting informal settlements. “We are angry. We want proper living conditions,” she said, adding that the toilets in her area were a health hazard. “Every day we live in fear of getting sick. We are exposed to all sorts of diseases.”

The march came just a month after residents of Gqozo village in NU1 blockaded the Qumza Highway near Yako filling station, blocking traffic coming from East London, to protest over the lack of service delivery.

The angry residents said they expected the municipality to respond to their grievances within 21 days. They said if there was no response within the specified period they would come again.

Luntu Bobo, who accepted a memorandum from the marchers on behalf of Buffalo City Executive Mayor Zintle Peter, promised the marching residents that the city would look at their grievances and respond to them.

Bobo admitted that the pace of service delivery was slow. “But as the municipality we are doing everything we can to better the lives of the people,” he said, begging the marchers to be patient.

“We really understand your pain,” he said. — Mdantsane Dispatch