March 31, 2006
By Lucky Sindane
"THE days of sharing toilet facilities and constantly fighting with my neighbours are over," cried a jubilant Bertha Rapakgadi from Phiri, Soweto.
Rapakgadi is a member of one of the 21 families that had been living in two-roomed council houses in Phiri - and sharing toilet facilities with their neighbours - that volunteered to move to four-roomed houses in Bram Fischerville, some 10 kilometres away, near Dobsonville.
Loading furniture on to the truck
Early on Friday, 31 March, two big white trucks pulled up at two houses in Phiri, and within 15 minutes the trucks were fully loaded with furniture belonging to two families who were ready to move to their new homes in Bram Fischerville Phase 12.
"I'm very happy because I've been waiting since 2004. No more sharing of facilities," Rapakgadi explained.
Johannesburg recently approved a project to subsidise and give title deeds to families who move from the council-owned houses in Phiri, where it has had to deal with overcrowding, to Bram Fischerville.
"There are currently 300 families who live in Phiri and those families have to be relocated to Bram Fischerville Phase 12," said Charmaine Nhlapho, a project manager in the City's department of housing.
"Last year we moved 79 families and today we are moving 21 - and we hope that the process will go smoothly. Resistance of residents and those who change their minds is a challenge. People volunteer to be moved but when that time comes, they refuse," she explained.
The City took into consideration several factors when relocating people, including access to schools.
"Disabled people and the elderly will not be relocated because they get their social grants from Phiri," said the City's spokesperson, Nthatisi Modingoane.
In addition, because of the size of the houses and the number of people living in a single house, some residents had built extensions on to the homes. "Some residents have extended their houses without permission from the council [which is necessary] because the houses are owned by the council."
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