Benoni pensioners take to the streets

Residents of municipal flats in Actonville are calling for more affordable rentals, title deeds, and electricity. Photo: Kimberly Mutandiro

More than a hundred residents of municipal flats in Actonville, Benoni marched to the City of Ekurhuleni’s offices on Wednesday.

They say electricity meters have been removed or blocked, rentals are too high, flats are not maintained, and they are being mistreated by municipal officials. They also want the ownership of the flats transferred to them, as has been done at other municipal flats in Johannesburg.

GroundUp reported on the flats in February 2024. At the time, the City of Ekurhuleni said there were plans to transfer the flats to the tenants. But in response to questions after Wednesday’s protest, City spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said there were no plans to transfer ownership of the flats. He said the residents should apply for rental adjustments and lay complaints against the city officials they say are mistreating them.

Protesters on Wednesday said their discussions with the municipality have been fruitless. The protesters were mostly pensioners. Some have been living in the flats for over 30 years. “Our flats are in a rotting state, and we fix everything ourselves,” said Anesh Ward.

The municipality has been blocking or removing electricity metres of people who have not paid rent. The protesters said this is unreasonable because they buy prepaid electricity from Eskom.

Ramdew and Radha Ramluccan live with a disabled child and owe R50,000 in rent. They say they have not had electricity for four years. They mostly rely on soup kitchens for food.

“It’s cold now, and we have no electricity. It’s a struggle to look after our disabled daughter without electricity, and she refuses to bathe with cold water,” said Radha.

Another pensioner, Rama Seetal, said his monthly rent is R1,900, which is most of his old age grant. He complains that despite paying his rent every month, there is no maintenance by the municipality.

Neemala Singh, who owes R20,000 in rent said she tried to enter a payment arrangement with the municipality so that her household could at least get their electricity back while they pay off their debt, but the municipality refused.

Protesters said they are ignored by the municipality. They had one meeting with the housing department, but no progress was made. A follow-up meeting was scheduled but cancelled at the last minute without explanation.

“We feel disrespected, abandoned, and treated as if our voices do not matter,” reads a memorandum handed over to housing John Lekgothoane of the municipality’s housing department. The memorandum asked for an official written response within seven working days.

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