SAfm

Bureaucrats don't deliver on something, they're supposed to hold the bureaucrats to account on our behalf, right? That's the whole point of political leadership. And that's supposed to be on the basis that we tell them what is wrong and they go and get it fixed. Now, there's two things that are broken in the story. Number one, politicians are not listening to communities at all. And so communities have become acutely aware. And I can tell you, I've worked with a number of communities. I'm working with one now.

Give this example so that people understand what happens between zero and that burning it out. There's a community in Claremont in Johannesburg that live in a building called Maxwell Court. Maxwell Court is owned by the city of Joburg. Three years ago, the city of Joburg declared it a condemned, uninhabitable building. That's how broken Maxwell Court is. There's a woman in that building who's got sewage that comes into her kitchen every day.

Every day from the broken plumbing in the building, right? That's how bad it is. There are rats running around everywhere. Now, the city of Joburg has had a plan in the works apparently for the better part of two years to move them to another building. The other building does not have waterway electricity yet, it's still under construction. And so, when the people of Maxwell Court say, Hey guys,

Take us out of this dangerous building we are in. The city says, Well, you can move to that other building, but it will be at your own risk because the other building is not finished. That's literally what they've said to the residents. These residents have had meetings, they have written letters, they've put together a memorandum, they've gotten lawyers involved, and the MMC for housing has still refused to meet with them this year. And when they confronted him at a debate.

A few weeks ago, he said, Don't worry, I've got lawyers that are getting engaged in this to evict you from the building now. You tell me why. Why will we be surprised if Axel Court residents start the protest and burn things? We wouldn't be surprised at all. We wouldn't be surprised. Absolutely. We are in conversation with Tessa Jukes. Just hold the thought, Tessa. We're going to come back to you. We're having the conversation about powers and responsibilities of ward and proportional representation.