EMS visists slum buildings

Four slum buildings in the inner city were visited by the emergency management services, to get a better understanding of their living conditions.
AN overpowering stench of garbage, seen floating in pools of stagnant water, pervades the air at Badge Creations, a slum building that once was a factory but now houses some of Joburg’s desperately poor residents.

MMC Matshidiso MfikoeMMC Matshidiso Mfikoe inspects Badge CreationsThe City’s emergency management services (EMS) stopped by on 1 August, just one of several bad buildings it visited on the day.

Glass panes are missing from the windows, which have been boarded up with cardboard boxes to keep the cold air out. This also keeps the natural light out, turning the interior into gloomy darkness.

The mayoral committee member for public safety, Matshidiso Mfikoe, joined the EMS in inspecting Badge Creations, on the corner of End and Kerk streets in downtown Joburg.

Alarmed at the state of the building, Mfikoe said stringent action would be taken against dilapidated structures.

“I feel very embarrassed and sad to see people living under horrific conditions,” said Mfikoe. “Such buildings are vulnerable to fire, especially if greedy or desperate landlords don’t maintain them.”

Slumlords
Badge Creations is one of many buildings in the inner city that have been hijacked by slumlords and criminals, who siphon off rent from tenants. It used to be a clothing factory.

Mfikoe said the inspection of the bad buildings was just the beginning of a campaign to monitor the safety of residential accommodation in Joburg. “As days progress more activities will unfold,” she said.

She also noted that there was a need for the City to engage with the legal fraternity so that it could understand the City’s view on bad buildings.

“Dealing with such issues is complicated by court rulings that state that the council must find alternative housing for illegal tenants before evicting them.”

A short walk through the dark passages of Badge Creations revealed families packed into tiny rooms divided by flimsy plaster board walls that barely reach the ceiling.

Badge Creations has no electricity or running waterBadge Creations has no electricity or running water“Enter at your own risk” is one of the many signs were scribbled on doors.

Children could be seen playing in pitch dark corridors, oblivious of the filth around them; young women washed clothes in buckets filled with dirty water.

They disappeared quickly into their rooms when they spotted the EMS in the building.

Resident
Isaiah Chauke, who has been living at Badge Creations for more than two years, spoke about residents’ difficulties. “Eish, this is not a pleasant place to stay,” he said. “The building has no electricity or water.”

He didn’t have a job and said he could not afford to stay in a better place; he paid R600 a month in rent. “If we don’t pay our rent in time, the landlord will hire people to beat us with sjamboks.”

Mfikoe and her team also investigated three other derelict buildings in the inner city, and spoke to the residents in an attempt to learn more about their lives.

She concluded that there was need to remove the tenants from such bad buildings and have them demolished.