The streets of Windvogel, Salt Lake and Helenvale are cobbled with broken promises, according to the residents of these “forgotten” suburbs in Port Elizabeth’s northern areas.
Their pent-up frustrations boiled over on Thursday, when they took to the streets in a desperate bid to make their voices heard – burning tyres in Stanford Road and blockading thoroughfares.
The families’ plea to city management: listen to what we have to say.
Their wish list is for the basics – a secure environment for their children, a decent slice of municipal contract work to earn a living wage, and improvements to their neighbourhoods.
The residents told stories of despair, anger, neglect and hardship in what was a multifaceted protest with the singular goal of improving their lot.
They gathered in groups along Stanford Road, with about 20 people near the entrance of Windvogel pinpointing unemployment.
Among them were married couple Tasneem Adams, 33, and Dominique, 29, of Windvogel, who have at times had to resort to crime to feed their three children, aged between four and 18.
“Imagine you’ve been out the whole day looking for work and return home unsuccessful,” Dominique said.
“Then your four-year-old runs up to you and grabs your leg crying, because they are hungry and haven’t eaten all day.
“As the man of the house, it’s your responsibility to provide for your family.
“So, on several occasions, I have had to rob people in the street just so my children can eat. It is not for lack of trying to get a job.
“I have worked on the chokka boats, but just as a normal worker with little to no pay – and it is seasonal.
“Yet we have to watch how people from other areas come in here and work on infrastructure in our community, earning money that should have gone to my family.”
Tasneem said she and her husband had been to ward 32 councillor Sandra Fillis’s offices several times over a period of four years, looking for any type of job, but to no avail.
“She always has a different excuse as to why she couldn’t find any work – I told her anything will do.
“At one stage, it was so bad that my husband and I had to collect scrap metal in rubbish dumps to sell for food.”
Henry Roman, 64, from Salt Lake, said while political power had shifted hands several times, nothing had changed for coloured people.
“We are the forgotten people of the northern areas,” Roman said.
“It is really sad how we continue not to be good enough to be noticed or assisted – not black enough for the ANC, not white enough for the DA.
“We are just used as voting pawns.”
Ward 32 SMME chair Hilton Whitebooi said: “These protests are proof that our people are still being sidelined when it comes to jobs.
“We are not being recognised because we are from the previously disadvantaged communities.
“All the contractors are not from the northern areas and the percentage of work allocated to these areas is so little that it makes no difference among the people.
“There is no room for small enterprises to grow and because there are so many waiting lists in these wards, jobs become scarce,” he said.
Whitebooi said the bad name protesters got needed to change.
“Our people are always seen as gangsters when they burn tyres, but this needs to change as the protests only occur because their cries are not being heard – so they take to the streets,” he said.
“People are tired of empty promises when more jobs can be made available in our areas.”
Ward 13 councillor Pieter Hermaans said: “There was a time when a protest only came about after all possible avenues had been exercised.
“But now people don’t want to listen to the steps that need to be taken before getting there – they just protest to get a stronger message out.
“Protests not only affect those involved but the greater community as well, and people need to understand that these jobs work on a rotation basis and everyone needs to get a turn,” he said.
“But because they are so reliant on this income, they resort to burning tyres.”
Helenvale community worker Hendrina Potgieter said only a certain group of people benefited from municipal contracts, which created tensions.
“People are frustrated because they are reliant on these projects,” she said.
“Everyone wants a chance at employment and because we have four SMME formations just within Helenvale alone, we have to come to a solution in terms of making sure everyone gets a piece of the pie.”
When Nelson Mandela Bay deputy mayor Thsonono Buyeye spoke to residents at Republiek Primary School at 2pm, he said he would only address the issue of traffic calming as it was all he had been briefed on.
Buyeye said all other concerns would be addressed with Fillis at the next ward meeting, which is yet to be scheduled but which he would like to attend.
Parents of pupils at Republiek Primary were asking for traffic calming measures to be put in place along the road in front of the school following the death of L-Jay Peterson, 9.
Peterson was killed in September after he was hit by a fire department bakkie as he ran across Stanford Road.
Residents subsequently demanded that city management build a pedestrian bridge and speed bumps and have regular patrols by traffic officials.
Peterson’s angry mother, Sharon Williams, said she had been promised traffic calming measures when a municipal delegation visited her home.
“When I was at my lowest, these municipal officials were in my house making big promises,” she said.
“Now they say there is no budget for the bridge and delays regarding speed bumps.
“They came and used my situation as a publicity stunt.”
Fillis attended Thursday’s meeting, together with mayoral committee member for roads and transport Rosie Daaminds and municipal senior director of roads, stormwater and transportation Yusuf Gaffore, who reeled Buyeye in after he promised residents the beginning of construction of speed bumps by Friday.
This was met by groans from residents who muttered “here we go again” and “more broken promises”.
Gaffore explained that the budget for the 2018/2019 financial year had already been allocated and, as such, a bridge could only be discussed later.
“However, there are measures we can take in the interim, including putting up signage, cameras on both sides, painting pedestrian lines in the street and the speed bumps.
“But this will not be done tomorrow or next week,” Gaffore said.
“We will have another meeting, plan and allocate budgets to attend to the needs as soon as possible, but it definitely won’t be tomorrow.”