14-year wait continues for forgotten Moth House residents

Residents of one such building in Braamfontein have a 2009 court order, stating they were meant to be temporarily housed at the city-owned Moth Transitional House for no longer than 12 months after they were moved from their Newton homes.

Joburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda told an extraordinary council meeting on Tuesday that the city’s group forensic investigation service was investigating 188 active cases of hijacked buildings. Thirteen of those belong to the metro.

A tour inside the dilapidated building revealed dozens of shacks home to at least 300 families.

The pungent smell of raw sewage hung heavy in the air, while the voices of giggling children echoed in the dark passageways.

Resident Bontle Mokgoetsi said she was one of 147 in line to receive a state-sponsored home.

She added that for 14 years officials have come and gone but no one has ever been relocated.

“It's not safe here. Everything is not safe. We are dying and I don't know who is next. The city really failed us because when we were in court, it was said we should only be here for 12 months. We want to move from here, they must take us to houses that we'll call our own. We don't want flats because they burn down."

With illegal power connections and now water, residents said they fear a repeat of the Marshalltown disaster.

"There was a fire on the third floor, and the city saw what happened, but they didn't help us. Our lawyers took down our details before there even shacks in here, and we chose between RDP houses and government-sponsored flats," Mokgoetsi recalled. 

According to the caretaker, there were less than 50 foreign nationals living at Moth House. Most were South Africans from the other provinces such as the Eastern Cape, while some came from places within the metro such as Soweto.  

They said most of them don't pay rent, but they can afford to pay anything between R200 and R500 if they were moved to a more habitable place. 

COUNCILLORS CALL FOR JOINT SOLUTION

A group of inner-city councillors have given organisations concerned by the occupation of hijacked or dilapidated inner-city buildings seven days to respond to their invitation to tour such properties.

They spoke to the media on Wednesday, just a few kilometres from the scene of the building fire that claimed 77 lives and left scores of others displaced.

Last week’s tragedy sparked finger-pointing, with officials accusing non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of scuppering attempts to evict illegal occupants in the nearly 200 hijacked buildings.

The councillors highlighted the housing crisis, illegal immigrants, service delivery failures, and the incompetence of government officials as some of the reasons for the dire state of inner-city housing.

The group, which included the MMC Environment and Infrastructure Services Department Jack Sekwaila, said officials in the city’s social housing company, and the Joburg property company, must also be held accountable.

“In our view, when properties are dilapidated it is because of poor facility management and that is an administration process. Three weeks ago, we walked out of one of the councillors forums because we felt officials didn’t take us seriously.

“We told them we need senior management from now on because we don’t want to make decisions and recommendations and individuals tell us they still need to consult. We want to hold them accountable,” lamented councillor Sihle Nguse.

In the wake of the deadly Marshalltown Usindiso building blaze, the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI) was quick to dispel claims by some politicians it had prevented the evictions of illegal tenants.  

At least 10 inner city ward councillors held a briefing outside the decaying Moth House in Braamfontein, saying they were ready to stop the blame-game and focus on collaborative efforts to address the housing crisis.

Ward 67 councillor David Modupi read the statement on behalf of the ward councillors.

“We need a holistic appreciation of social order, rather than a partisan one. There’s an asymmetric approach towards the interpretation and application of the law, and that has borne the bitter results of social disorder...

“As we move forward, we challenge SERI, the Legal Resource Centre, Human Rights Commissions, the judiciary and other organisations to have a walkabout with us in the inner-city so that they can see the conditions our people are still subjected too.”

Modupi said they would personally knock on the doors of those organisations if they didn’t respond to the invitation within seven days.

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