23 July 2024
Protesters gathered in an open space after being dispersed by police. Photos: Silver Sibiya
Protesters from Nana’s Farm in the south of Johannesburg blocked the busy N12 freeway in both directions on Monday demanding sanitation, water and electricity.
Roads were blocked with bricks, rocks, wood and burning tyres. Police said a minibus was torched and another vehicle damaged.
Law enforcement officers from Public Order Policing, traffic police, and Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. Four were arrested and would be charged with public violence, said JMPD spokesperson Superintended Xolani Fihla.
A community leader who identified himself as Dan said he had been living there for over 36 years and the settlement had grown fast. He said there were only six chemical mobile toilets and one rain tank for thousands of residents. “The water truck that pumps water to the Jojo tank is not reliable. Some days it doesn’t come, at times it can take the whole week.
“When it’s here, even children as young as seven years old would be fighting for water with old people. That shows how desperate the situation is,” he said.
Residents say there are six toilets for thousands of people.
Dan said they had been promised that the settlement would be formalised. “We did everything they wanted. We gave them a database. The Department of Human Settlements came to number the shacks, and they promised to come back to formalise the area. As you can see it did not happen,” he said.
“Since they collected the votes now they don’t say anything. This situation shows they don’t care about us. That is why today we said, let’s stand up and fight for our rights. Maybe the Mayor and councillor will finally come and listen to us to find out what we want.”
Resident Makabelo Moss said she hoped the settlement could get water, electricity and toilets, and a sports ground for the children. She said some families resorted to fetching water from a dirty well which was dangerous for their health. Another resident, Rebecca Chauke, said she had asked the councillor to prepare a space for a sports ground but nothing had happened.
The City of Johannesburg said the land belonged to the provincial government. “The City will provide bare essential services to avoid crises such as the outbreak of diseases because of illegal dumping,” said a spokesperson who told GroundUp to attribute the response to “the City”.
The Gauteng human settlements department and Joburg Water have not yet responded to emails.
Police and metro police dispersed the protesters.