By Rorisang Modiba
- Residents of the Matimba Heights flats in Mamelodi East are living with leaking roofs, broken sewer pipes and missing ceilings.
- The Democratic Alliance wants answers from government leaders about when a new contractor will fix the broken blocks of flats.
Residents living in the Matimba Heights flats in Mamelodi East are dealing with broken homes and serious building defects.
They live with leaking pipes and damaged roofs. In some of the flats, the window frames are not attached to the walls.
People have to find their own ways to keep dust out of their homes. Some residents stuff clothes into the gaps around their windows just to stop the dust from blowing inside.
Ofentse Madzebatela from the Democratic Alliance saw the problems first hand during a recent visit to the flats.
“Some of the window frames are not attached to the wall, so people had to either do it themselves. Others just put in clothes to just prevent dust from going in,” Madzebatela said.
He said he saw water on the walls because of the leaking pipes. The problems affect different blocks across the development.
Madzebatela said the flats have no ceilings. He said water pipes and sewer lines are leaking, and some flushing pipes have no connections at all.
“All of them have similar problems. It is leaking pipes, roof issues, incomplete connections,” he said.
Residents have documented the complaints. Madzebatela said one man living at the flats has kept a record of the problems affecting the buildings.
The Democratic Alliance now wants answers from the Gauteng government.
The party plans to ask human settlements MEC Tasneen Motara and cooperative governance MEC Jacob Mamabolo for a timeline.
They want to know when the government will hire a new contractor to fix the defects at Matimba Heights.
Pictured above: A generic view of the Matimba Heights flats in Mamelodi East.
Image source: Supplied
