Woodlands stairways demolished

Two Woodlands council rental flats’ stairways have been demolished and are due to be replaced as part of a 1.2 billion City of Cape Town public housing initiative.

For the next month the two families will have to use scaffolding stairways.

The Plainsman visited Rachel August, 66, who has been a tenant of the City for almost 40 years.

She lives with her two sons, one of whom is disabled and the other son’s three children and their mother.

Her son Fabian said it is a struggle to get his mother to the rent office, where she can complain about the water being on a trickle system, broken window panes and light switches that do not work.

He was grateful for the replacement of the stairway but said they were warned that if there were any injuries or incidents they would be liable, while the contractors were at work.

Mrs August was last outside her home earlier this month.

Ahead of the local government elections, Good Party’s Ward 75 councillor candidate, Shahiem van Nelson, while he was campaigning in the area, highlighted their leaking roofs, which caused damage to their furniture and appliances; and the building’s delapidated state (“Woodlands council flats need fixing”, Plainsman September 15, 2021).

Last week as proportional representation (PR) councillor he told the Plainsman they were glad that the stairways were being replaced but asked whether the City entered the residents’ homes to hear their complaints.

He was flanked by another PR councillor, Jonathan Cupido, who pointed out that alternate accommodation should have been arranged while the stairway was being replaced.

“They have been paying rent all of these years, filling the City’s coffers. The municipality should maintain their rental stock,” he said.

Mr Cupido also challenged whether the entire budget of R1.2 billion would be used on maintenance, upgrades and emergency staircase replacements in areas across the metro over the next few years.

Kevin Thomas, 56, who uses crutches to move around in his house told the Plainsman that he first complained about the disintegrated stairway in 2018 at the council’s housing rental office.

Mr Thomas said council workers had been to their flat to inspect his complaint, did some touch ups but the stairway had reached a point of disrepair.

While he was happy with the stair replacement he said the council did not make provision for tenants living on the upper storeys.

He said they need space outside to garden, socialise, hang their washing and perhaps park their car.

“The downstairs’ tenants have a front and back entrance, they can do what they want in the front and back of their houses. The least they can do is give us access in the front or the back,” he said.

The City owns 45 000 rental units and is one of the largest landlords in South Africa.

Mayoral committee member for human settlements Carl Pophaim said they had limited resources so urgent maintenance work had to be done first.

“By far the majority of service requests are related to vandalism. If we could reduce the incidents of vandalism, we could do so much more with our maintenance budget and free up more teams for emergency work,” he said.

Tenants are asked to report urgent maintenance issues to their nearest housing office and to remember that their rental payments help the City to maintain the flats.

“Our public housing holds the keys to a brighter future, where living spaces are enhanced in a safe and dignified manner.

“I ask our tenants if they see theft and vandalism and unlawful occupation of our units happening, to please say something and report it to 021 480 7700. Anonymous tip-offs are welcomed,” he said.

Priority is given to emergency repairs: staircase repairs and replacement was identified as a priority: and that majority of repair work required at public housing units was due to vandalism and theft.

In February National Coloured Congress (NCC) PR councillor Sakiena Frenchman flagged the Woodlands stairways as an “impending disaster”.

In a media statement she said: “The condemned staircases are not only exclusive to Mitchell’s Plain but the rest of the Cape Metro as well in areas such as Ocean View, Lavender Hill, Parkwood, Hanover Park, Atlantis and many more.”

She said the NCC has asked for the unbiased findings of a creditable structural engineer and a registered health and safety practitioner to be made in public.

“We know that the City’s own engineer has condemned hundreds of staircases like this as ailing and in critical need of replacement as far back as 2017,” she said.

Ms Frenchman said the people had already suffered avoidable injuries with the City facing legal consequences as a result.