Residents of the Heaven’s Shelter House say life at the Mitchells Plain hostel has become hell.
An anonymous resident at the shelter in Woodlands complained that the complex, which has eight private rooms, two 10-sleeper dormitories and six Wendy houses is plagued by electricity cuts, unhygienic food storage and a monthly rental of R1000 for mense, most of whom are unemployed.
“I have been living here after I got evicted from my home and every month I must pay R1000 rent, so during the day, I am at work but when I come home, most of the time there is no electricity.
“Because there is no electricity, the food goes off and it just lies there in the kitchen making the whole hostel smell like a morgue, and then you still get maggots.”
According to the resident, the hostel has over 40 occupants who are all forced to share a single bathroom that is not properly maintained.
Gabieba Rademeyer, chairperson of the Woodlands Women Support Group, says: “I get lots of people, men and women, coming from the shelter complaining about the issues they face living there.
“They say at certain times of the night, the electricity is cut and that time grows earlier every time, so it’s like extreme loadshedding. Also, that place is a shelter, so how can they be charging people rent?”
When the Daily Voice visited the hostel, owner Zulfa Morris denied that she charges rent.
“People are just making these things up and I cannot understand why. Maybe it is just jealousy or maybe they want to take over the place but there is nothing bad happening here,” she says.
“The people living here have access to electricity, water and food.
“We get no funding from the government or departments, so everything is down to donations, while we also do not charge any rent.
“We do encourage people living here to give something back as a sort of incentive and to teach them a sense of responsibility.”