‘The City forgot about us’
Families living without electricity in an informal settlement on an old farm at the edge of the Disa River, in Hout Bay, say it feels like the City has forgotten them.
They have asked the authorities many times over the years to provide them with electricity, but their pleas have only met with “excuses”, they say.
"Our people here feel as if they are being neglected and forgotten,“ said Carissa Cupido, one of the residents.
"We have peacefully tried for years to try and get the council to install electricity but have been constantly given excuses as to why the City can't or just won't do it.
“It seems the government only responds or provides the people of South Africa with their human rights once they become violent.”
Despite that, the families in the settlement had never turned to violence or protests, she said.
"We are peaceful, non-violent people, and all we ask is for the government to provide us with electricity and treat us the same as everyone else, with fairness and dignity."
About 11 families live on what is known as “the old farmlands”. Now City-owned, the farmland once belonged to a farmer who died in 1995, but, according to the families living there, the late farmer gave permission for six families to live on the Disa River bank, promising that their future would always be assured.
Abraham Moses, 60, who was born on the farm and still lives there today, said: “After all the promises, we are still waiting.”
He said things had changed when the farmer died and the six families had been given cottages on land.
“The promises made were not kept, instead the residents were served with eviction notices to vacate the land. The community stood strong and refused to be removed from the land,” Mr Moses said.
People had lived on the Disa River bank since the early 80s, before the Princess Street and Imizamo Yethu informal settlements were established, but they were still fighting for the basic services that had been installed in other communities over the years, he said.
“In the past, the community of Disa River continuously highlighted their feelings about the inequality that has been happening among the different communities,” he said.
Jacob Crouster, who was born on the farm in the 1960s, said: "We have shown that we are willing to work with council and make this work for us all. But that kindness is being mistaken and they have forgotten about us and our requests.“
Many empty promises had been made by the City over the years and the settlement was no nearer being lit up, he said.
“They’re always making us promises, and all we can do is hope somebody can hear us and somebody can help because we do not want to live like this.”
However, ward councillor Roberto Quintas said electricity was simply not an option for the community because national regulations prohibited the installation of electricity near a floodplain or river, and that had been explained to the people alongside the river “on many occasions”.
"It is unfortunately not a service that we would be able to legally or safely supply," Mr Quintas said.
