Friday 15 March 2013

THE NEVER SEEN PRICE OF PETROL IS A CHALLENGE TO MANY

Kgaugelo Maja is filling the customer’s vehicle with petrol at Shell Garage Soshanguve Block H, a day before the petrol price rise in the rest of the country.

HOPE MOTAU

The petrol price reached the maximum amount for the first time ever. The price of the petrol is increased with 81c per litre, which made it to be sold with R13.00 a litre. South African motorist are expected to dig down in to their pocket to keep the wheel rolling. The decreasing value of Rand and the increment of the crude oil are the main cause of the rises of the petrol.


Soshanguve residents such as Siphokahle Khumalo, who is unemployed and make living by transporting children from Soshanguve to different schools, are affected negatively by this price which was never seen before. “Yes the petrol price is affecting me negatively in terms of my job of transporting children to schools, especially for the money I’ve charged their parents for transporting them. Anyway, I don’t know what to say, but it affects me seriously. I’m out of budget because of it,” says Siphokahle Khumalo.
Sello Legodi who is the Human Resource Manager at Eskom in Pretoria is also concern about the petrol price, since he is staying in Soshanguve but working in Pretoria town. He is using his own car for transport to Pretoria and continued to tell us that “the increase of petrol price is tough, especially this nowadays, because the life is too expensive. The more petrol price is increased, is the more lot of things increase prices. So the government must do something about these prices, just like in Namibia. Just look at Namibia, the petrol price is very cheap.
South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) announced lately that South Africans must expect the increments on taxi fares countrywide due to the high price of petrol. They say is not in their control to increase these prices, but is the high price of petrol that makes them to increase prices. Albert Shabalala a taxi driver in Soshanguve and Mabopane said “obvious no one would like to see petrol increasing the price like this. It is really affecting us negatively; it increased with 81. Yah it’s affecting us negatively.”
 

Monday 4 March 2013

BETTER SERVICE FOR ALL IS AN INSULT TO DIEPSLOOT RESIDENTS










There's no development in Diepsloot, especially Ext 1, since from the past twelve years of better services promisses.

BY: HOPE MOTAU

After nineteen years of democracy, people of Diepsloot, North of Johannesburg are still living in a very critical condition. Many people are living at the squatter camps and there are no better services since the past twelve years.
These people were evacuated from Alexandra in 2001 because they were staying beside the Jukskei River, were many people died during the rains seasons. The government told them that they are evacuated to the RDP houses in Diepsloot, but when they arrived there were no RDP houses; only a little space to build shacks for their own shelter.


Elizabeth Mphahlele from Limpopo is one of the residents whom were promised for RDP house for the past eleven years. “It is very painful to live in this kind of situation my son, I’ve been waiting for RDP for the past twelve years, but I’ve never got any respond even today. Sometime we are told to re-apply, but no one get respond, even those people I’ve applied with. I’m a domestic worker and I cannot afford to buy a house, because I’m a single mother and looking after my four children”.
Elizabeth Mphahlele continued to tell the TUT Online News about the services in Diepsloot Ext 1 that there is no electricity, they are using paraffin stoves for cooking and candle lights during the night. Paraffin stoves and candle lights are very dangerous because they sometimes burn and pass to other residents’ shacks. The shacks are too close to each other and streets toilets are frequently blocking and licking all over streets.


When the TUT Online News visits Diepsloot township, we found some of the children playing with the water coming from the licking sewages and at the dumping sides. They said there are no parks near the Ext 1 for them to enjoy their childhood. There are no playing materials from the government for children who are future leaders; the only thing they do is to play with sewage water and try to find some dumped toys from dumping sides.

Rogers Maluleke, ward councillor of Diepsloot Ext 1 said the government is going to build over 10 000 RDP houses for the people who are unable to buy houses and 5000 new bonds for those who are earning at least R6000 a month. “The other main challenge we are facing in our daily basis here in Diepsloot are people who sell their shacks when they get RDP house, that’s why the shacks are keep on multiplying themselves here” he said.