Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
When no shelter was provided to the residents expelled from the Yamaha building in Marlboro, the dwellers returned as they had nowhere to go
And the torrential rain had already damaged their goods that were mercilessly thrown in the flood!
When Alex Reporter’s team arrived in the building this afternoon, the affected families complained that Ward 108 Councillor Debra Francisco had never been there to assist them.
Francisco said she was at a meeting and said she would come back to us after ten minutes.
She then phoned as promised and stated that the city of Johannesburg was not involved in any private property.
However, she said that she felt pain for those families. She said that she called the Disaster Management people who told her that they only dealt with cases where houses had burned down.
“They must look for an accommodation from their family members,” Francisco said.
Residents complained about being left without food after their items, including food, were severely damaged when they were thrown into the flood.
The schoolchildren appeared to be in distress because they did not go to school.
The spokesperson for the evicted residents, Mzwabantu Pangalele (49), said he had been staying there for 20 years.
Pangalele said when Pastor Joseph Mabula came, a few years ago, he asked for a space that could accommodate his church and crèche.
“He had a church near the Maningi scrapyard,” said Pangalele.
According to Pangalele, the problem started in 2010 when Mabula told them he had purchased the building.
The legal battle started in 2011 and lasted until 2020, before it resumed yesterday.
When we entered the building, the destroyed furniture was scattered, and many of them were damaged by rain when they were thrown outside.
Eric Khumalo (29) who was sleeping, relaxing in a damaged bed, said his ID was damaged due to exposure to rain.
Zamokuhle Twala (40), Michael Ngubane (40) and Onele Tshezi (10) are chronically ill.
The problem is that the documents that help them determine when they will collect their next medication are also destroyed in the rain.
We were hoping to talk to Mabula when Chris Yende promised to comment. The moment we left the building, Yende did not comment.
We subsequently sent him a WhatsApp message. However, he made no comments at the time the news was published.
If you would like to provide assistance to the victims, please call Pangalele at 0835675831.
Pics by Mashamba Medi
