An 89-year-old wheelchair-bound pensioner says she is fed-up with the City of Cape Town after she has been complaining about a hole in her roof since 2014.
Margaret van Rooyen, from Kaneels Court in Ottery, says she’s asked the City to fix her council flat roof for years and now fears she might get hurt when the roof next to her geyser eventually collapses.
“I have been struggling with these people since 2014 after they renovated the flats. I am in a wheelchair and lost my legs due to diabetes,” she says.
“That ceiling worries me. It leaks in our home. What if I am on the toilet one day and it collapses?
“One sits on the toilet and the cement pieces fall on you. They’re quick to pressure you as jy miskien een maand se payment mis, but they cannot deliver a service and I’m living here for over 40 years.”
Magaret says if she could, she would be at the City’s municipal offices every day.
“My son is the only help I have. If I still had legs and could walk, I would be at those offices every day to complain,” she says.
“They send people out, the guys just looks and say they will send someone else but no one ever comes. Must something now first happen?”
Her son Joseph van Rooyen, 66, says he is scared something might happen to his mother.
“We never had any problems until the renovations. The roof leaks, the wiring by the geyser sometimes sparks and the light struggles to go on and flickers a lot,” he says.
“I had someone come check it out and they said whoever worked here flopped the job.”
Mayoral Committee for Assets and Facilities Management, Stuart Diamond, says the City will be looking into the matter.
“Residents are advised to log faults as a service request either with the Ward Councillor, via the City’s Call Centre on 0860 103 089, or at the Housing Office for the maintenance department to undertake the necessary repairs,” he says.