Residents of Phumlamqashi informal settlement near Lenasia South continue to face challenges accessing basic services, with unreliable water supplies, broken sanitation facilities and limited healthcare among their concerns.
For families who have called the settlement home for years, these difficulties have become part of everyday life, raising questions about service delivery and the support communities receive from local leadership. Among those frustrated by the situation is 19-year-old Lethu Ngobese, who has lived in the settlement for nine years and yesterday casted her first vote in the 2026 Local Government Elections.
According to an article by allAfrica, residents reportedly rely on JoJo tanks supplied by water trucks, but deliveries are inconsistent.Residents are sometimes told that the truck cannot deliver because the driver does not have fuel. Sanitation is another concern, with toilets constructed in the settlement reportedly remaining unusable.
Healthcare services are also limited. A mobile clinic visits once a week, on Wednesdays, leaving residents who require medical attention on other days to travel to the South Civic Centre clinic. Long queues at the mobile clinic add to the frustration.
Safety remains a major concern, with Ngobese pointing to inadequate street lighting, crime and the absence of a satellite police station and community policing structures. The challenges extend to young people, who she says have limited access to development programmes and opportunities. The community also has only one primary school, while the nearest high school is approximately 30 minutes away.
Ngobese believes the lack of opportunities, coupled with drug use and teenage pregnancies, reflects the difficult circumstances facing young people in the settlement. After nearly a decade of witnessing these struggles, she says she has lost confidence in the current leadership and wants to see a change in those entrusted with serving the community.
Her first vote is therefore shaped by concerns that extend beyond party politics. It reflects the frustration of a young resident who believes Phumlamqashi deserves reliable services, safer surroundings, accessible healthcare and better opportunities.
For residents, however, the real measure of change will not be election promises, but whether their daily living conditions finally improve.
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