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I spent most of my student life traveling between Wits and my home (an RDP settlements on the outskirts of Vosloorus). The taxi drivers at Noord used to call the area "Maputo". Initially I thought it was about the social composition of area and the presence of Mozambican migrants
The name "Maputo" had nothing to do with the social composition of our area. It was a critique of the post apartheid planning. My home is almost 32km from Jozi...the furthest settlement in Vosloorus at the time. Rdp houses come with the burden of paying more for transport.
On many occasions, the drivers would refuse to be allocated passengers from our area. They complained about how the trip guzzled petrol and precious time. A 2-3 hour wait for a taxi was the norm. The worst times were Fridays and month-end.
We'd be queuing for hours....university bags on our backs, wailing babies, heavy groceries and all. Nobody would want to take a chance to load these people who stayed the furthest from all places in Vosloorus. We got used to the treatment
Wits flatly refused to grant us residence because we stayed less than 35km away. I resorted to sleeping in the library and "bathing" in the bathrooms at umthombo building. I squatted with friends.
The irony of all of this is that the RDP house was my parent's pride and joy. We had spent years renting a small room and sometime at a shack settlement with no toilet or a tap. That 2 roomed house with a big yard was our breakthrough.
But the hardships were sometimes unbearable. How did something that was supposed to represent freedom turn into such a nightmare?
It makes me so angry that today's RDP houses are located further and further away from economic centres. People are dumped into the wilderness and their income is drained by transport costs.
Our plight was worsened by the reality that the residents of the different parts of Vosloo really resented Ext 28 (the RDP area). For many who lived in bank financed homes ("izindlu ezama bond"), the settlement was a nightmare that undermined property value.
These perceptions shifted for 2 reasons. 1. The bank eviction wave that saw many home owners being thrown out to even smaller alternative accommodation 2. The rapid manner in which the houses in Ext 28 became "big houses" with 3 or 4 bedrooms became a source of envy.
