Frans Kgole only had a mattress, paraffin stove and bucket when he moved into one of the incomplete River Park flats in Alexandra, northern Johannesburg, three years ago.
Kgole, was one of hundreds of people from various informal settlements in Alexandra to occupy the abandoned River Park flats, which had been left incomplete and empty for years while locals lived in shacks.
The occupants of the block of flats, initially built as part of a housing development project by the government, have had to live without electricity and other infrastructure since then.
The flats at the four-storey River Park complex, which consists of about 10 blocks built with modern face bricks, have communal toilets but no running water.
When the occupants moved in some built new homes around the flats while others bought doors, windows and corrugated iron sheets to complete the unfinished flats.
They also illegally connected electricity, an act that came to a head last week when City Power conducted an operation to disconnect them. A man who was part of the protest was killed and an Alex Mall security guard alleged to have shot him was arrested.
Kgole, 36, says he has invested a lot in his two-room flat after finding it incomplete. The part-time actor said it took him two months to buy furniture.
Now he says living without constant electricity is difficult.
“It has been a big challenge living without proper electricity. We connect ourselves using the illegal connections. When City Power cuts our connection it becomes a problem. I now have to cook using a paraffin stove. This means I also have to save for paraffin. I spend R20 on a litre of paraffin. It is not enough to cook and bathe every day,” he says.
“We don’t even have lighting when our electricity is cut. We use candles. We sleep in the dark and wake up in the dark. It is really unfair.”
Victoria Sweli, 52, another resident of the flats
and a traditional healer, lives with a couple of her initiates in a two-room house she built after moving into the area in 2018. She says when she does not have electricity it affects her work as a sangoma.
“I get about 10 clients a day. I need hot water to help some of them. I use hot water to wash and massage my clients, depending on what kind of sickness they have. If there is no electricity I turn them back. I also lose out financially because I charge R250 per session,” says Sweli.
Sweli says living without electricity has caused food in her fridge to go to waste and to her having to throw it away.
“I have to throw away the rotten food and I don’t have enough money to buy food again. I have to wait for the end of the month so my clients can pay me and I can buy food. This issue of electricity affects us badly,” says Sweli.
Hannes Moja, 35, one of the first people to move into the flats, said before moving in they had made formal inquiries with the authorities about how to legally occupy the place.
“We didn’t occupy this place illegally. We didn’t enter by force. We went to the councillors and sent a petition to the Gauteng department of housing to assist us. We even applied for services such as water and electricity before we moved in. We were never assisted,” said Moja.
“We even met with City Power many times after moving in and asked for electricity but we were told to go to the housing department to first formalise our area before City Power can give us electricity. The spokesperson Isaac Mangena told us they will not cut our electricity but we are surprised it was cut [last week].”
Approached for comment, City of Joburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane referred Sowetan to the Gauteng provincial government.
Sowetan sent questions to Gauteng department of human settlements spokesperson Castro Ngobese, who promised to respond. On Thursday, Ngobese referred Sowetan to his colleague, Luzuko Pongoma, who also promised to respond but had not done so at the time of going to print.
City Power spokesperson Mangena said the land where River Park flats are built belongs to the Gauteng provincial government.
"The City Power officials never promised residents that their electricity will not be cut off. We have already advised the residents on steps they can take to ensure they get proper electricity. They should petition the speaker of council or approach the housing department and ask what they should do to get electricity and other services such as water and refuse collection,” said Mangena.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.