Thirty years after democracy promised transformation Strand residents are still waiting, Dr Allan Boesak learned first-hand on Saturday (16 August), when he encountered what amount to broken promises – deteriorating living conditions that define daily life in the local community.
Despite the population more than doubling over three decades, there is little evidence of meaningful advancement in addressing residents’ needs. Although some housing developments have been completed, locals attending questioned local government’s use of allocated funds.
Boesak listened attentively to activists and community workers, who raised the same issues that have persisted since 1994. For too long communities have been misled at the ballot box, repeatedly voting for what he described as “colonial exploiters”.
On his way through Allan Boesak Village its eponymous tourist was shocked by the stench and filth of the Soet River. Elderly residents shared their concerns about the river’s deteriorating condition.
In Broadlands Park he expressed disappointment in the area’s transformation into a slum, with overcrowded houses and numerous shacks in yards.
At Vlakteplaas people are living in horrendous conditions in barns alongside animals.
In Gustrouw he visited the local clinic and an open field earmarked for the development of a police station years ago, but this necessary facility never materialised.
Following the site visits residents gathered at the Strand congregation of the Volkskerk van Afrika to voice their complaints. Some of the key issues discussed included: the lack of available land for community infrastructure; missing facilities like an indoor youth centre, regional athletics track, skills centre, old-age home, and early childhood development and after-care centres; insufficient land for agricultural horticulture and community gardens; the need for a central soup kitchen; and children not attending school due to lack of proper skills training facilities.
Boesak emphasised that vacant land owned by the departments of Public Works and Environmental Affairs, originally serving as buffer zones between communities, should be used for community development. He claimed that authorities continued to disrespect communities and trample on their human rights. “We are worse off than before democracy,” he stated, calling for collective action, and not isolated work.
The newly-formed Helderberg Residence Concern Group will tackle these issues as an umbrella body, bringing all civic organisations together to address challenges with statutory entities.
Boesak concluded that it is time to stop allowing authorities to disregard residents’ rights to live in dignity and with decency.
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