By Doreen Mokgolo
While residents of the Plastic View Informal Settlement, east of Pretoria, are trying to rebuild their homes and relying on donations to survive, community leaders are allegedly pocketing the donations for themselves.
Only a few residents who are close to the leaders are benefitting while many other desperate residents are forced to buy goods that have been donated from the leaders hoarding them.
Over 50 shacks caught fire in the early hours of Saturday morning, leaving 250 people homeless.
The victims have been forced to sleep on their small stands to guard their remaining sheets of zinc.
It is suspected that the fire was caused by a paraffin stove or a candle that was left unattended.
On Monday morning residents were seen trying to rebuild their structures with logs they collected from nearby bushes.
One of the residents, Lizah Maramba, told Scrolla.Africa they see trucks delivering donations but the goods don’t reach them.
“The residents are supposed to be wearing wristbands to identify them but many still don’t have the bands so they are denied the donations,” she said.
“We don’t even have food, blankets or clothes for the children. We only have the clothes on our backs, yet we can see clothes being donated.”
Another resident, Maria Moyo, said some of the leaders are selling the donated goods to residents.
“I had to pay R50 for a 2.5 kg bag of maize meal to cook for my small children who were crying from hunger,” she said.
“We can’t speak out against the leaders. We fear they might force us out of the area because many of them own the stands that we are renting.”
Community leader Robert Muza confirmed that this is a challenge they face every time there is such an incident.
“Only a handful of residents close to the leaders, either friends or families, benefit from the donations.
“There is nothing we can do to change this. We are pleading with the donors to distribute the goods directly to the affected residents,” he said.
Pictured above: Plastic View Informal Settlement shack fire.
Image source: Doreen Mokgolo
