When children leave her one-bedroom flat in a former flagship government housing development in Cape Town, Amanda Ntshenge warns them not to put a foot wrong.
“Because of the poor workmanship the cables that run through the corridor are now exposed. We worry that someday someone will be electrocuted. I’ve got a two-year-old I never let out of my sight for fear that she may touch the exposed electrical cables or play in this unsanitary environment and get sick,” she said.
The place she proudly called home, after its grand opening in 2006 by the then housing minister Lindiwe Sisulu, is now derelict and raw sewage oozes from its pipes.
Residents of phase 1 of the N2 Gateway Project in Langa — a multibillion-rand initiative to address poverty and restore the dignity of the homeless — say it was meant to lift them out of squalor, but not much has changed.
Not only are the rental units mouldy due to poor ventilation, shoddy plumbing and leaky roofs, it has become structurally vulnerable, with cracked walls and unauthorised extensions.
A joint initiative of national, provincial and local government, phase 1 provided affordable rental housing for 705 poor families. Sisulu said the project, intended to eradicate shacks along the city’s N2 highway, was the biggest “ever undertaken by any government”.
Ntshenge, also secretary-general of the N2 Gateway committee, said: “People envied us as N2 Gateway was considered fancy. It looked attractive ... and was considered to be the safest place in Langa, with 24-hour security. But it didn’t take long before we started experiencing problems. Plumbing started to fail within the first year. Things have since deteriorated.
“Each year I have to paint to cover the mould that builds up, especially in winter. I’ve been living with an unbearable smell coming from a broken sink pipe, which also lets rats in.
" Despite pleas to the city to attend to these problems, nothing has been done. Recently one of the blocks didn’t have electricity for six weeks as izinyoka [cable thieves] vandalised the complex.”
Residents feel helpless. Their landlord, the City of Cape Town, declines to maintain units unless they sign lease agreements. But they refuse to sign until the defects are fixed. Phase 1, which has 30 blocks of flats, houses more than 5,000 people.
“We don’t have a problem signing ... as long as the city fixes broken infrastructure first,” said Ntshenge.
I’ve been living with an unbearable smell coming from a broken sink pipe, which also lets rats in
— Amanda Ntshenge, secretary-general of the N2 Gateway committee
The city took over the complex from the national government in 2015 and has no alternative “but to take the necessary action to compel the residents to enter into lease agreements”.
“It must be noted that there were no lease agreements when the units were handed over to the city, and despite numerous meetings, workshops and requests for tenants to enter into formal lease agreements, most residents refused to do so,” the city said.
Rental income would be used for maintenance, “as is the case in the units managed by the city across the metro”.
Mzimasi Lukakani, a J-Block resident, is lucky to be living on the second floor.
“We’ve had the issue of burst pipes in our block for years, nothing is done despite reporting it to the city. Every time someone flushes a toilet everything comes out in the open ... Dirty water from the kitchen sinks flows down into the courtyard ... The stench is unbearable.
“Children can’t play in the courtyard ... They play in the park because of the unsanitary conditions.”
Sinethemba Ngqula illegally extended her home. “When my husband and I moved here 17 years ago we only had one child. We’ve since had more children and needed space. We couldn’t let our children sleep on the floor in our one-bedroom home as it leaks from the roof slab, our floor is always wet.”
Ward 51 councillor Lwazi Phakade of the ANC said: “Since I came into office in 2021, I’ve been pushing to have this attended to. We even reported it to the public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane [who] visited the site with the mayor. So they are aware of the issues … They promised they will fix some of the challenges, but nothing has been done.”
The city said it would perform all emergency maintenance related to health and safety such as blocked drains and water supply problems.
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