SOUTH AFRICA
The Minister for Public Services and Administration in South Africa, Ayanda Dlodlo said she was shocked at the lack of services in the township of Diepsloot, north west of Johannesburg.
Visiting the area as part of Public Services Activities Month, Ms Dlodlo was accompanied by representatives of the Departments of Home Affairs, Labour and Social Security who offered various services to residents.
The Minister said she was troubled by conditions in the community.
“The type of life that people live here is untenable; living in the midst of sewage, the houses are too close to one another and at some point, I thought it was one house while it was two homes,” Ms Dlodlo said.
“It’s just too close for comfort.
“I have been told that the majority of Diesploot residents do not even have birth certificates.”
She said the problem of birth certificates needed to be addressed.
“It is not going to end today, we have a group of community development workers that are going to be visiting each and every household to determine the extent of the problem with regards to birth certificates and any form of identification,” Ms Dlodlo said.
Diepsloot – Afrikaans for ‘Deep Ditch’ – is home to about 140,000 people, many of whom live in shacks assembled from scrap metal, wood, plastic and cardboard.
Many families lack access to basic services such as running water, sewage and rubbish removal.
Pretoria, 11 September, 2018
