Kanana informal settlement near Gugulethu has been severely struck by poverty and there have been reports of mob justice due to the ascending crime rate in the area. A 17-year-old man was recently ‘necklaced’ to death after he was allegedly caught robbing a woman.
But Amanda Tshangane (22) is trying to wipe away the stigma attached to her area. Tshangane is an aspiring vocalist and a Mechanical Engineering first-year student from the Cape Peninsula University Technology.
Her passion for music grew over the past decade and she has performed around Cape Town. She says the support from fans has been ‘tremendous’. Though she assured GASmag that she was determined to make her dreams come true, she mentioned challenges that face her too.
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“Our recording studio is too far and that means travelling,” says Tshangane.
She lost both her parents at 11 and was raised by her grandmother, who is the sole breadwinner. “My two younger siblings and I had to bunk school in winter as it is cold and we needed clothes to keep us warm.”
Kanana is an overpopulated informal settlement that acts as a good hide-out for ‘skollies’. There have been several reports of victims who get mugged en route to the train station: “These skollies lie low on the ground, waiting for their prey. Then they snatch the bag and run away. We need proper houses so we can put up fences to protect ourselves,” says one of the residents.
Kanana residents dumped human waste on the N2 highway and Steve Biko road in Gugulethu and they said their bucket toilets had not been collected for two months.
"We will not vote in the 2014 elections because our situation has not changed. Nobody cares for us. There is development in other areas but not in Kanana," says Nomfundo Matiwane.
Although she believes the residents were within their rights by protesting, Tshangane says this affected them too as they might have contracted diseases on their way to school and work.
“The poo was splashed exactly on the bridge that we use when going to Heideveld station. Some parents could not allow their children to go to school as it was unhygienic,” she recalls.
The city says it aims to eradicate the bucket system by 2014, but the residents say they ‘want proper sanitation and decent houses’. Tshangane says their living conditions have taken a toll on her studies as she cannot study at night as they have no electricity. She says that, despite all these challenges, she will obtain her degree and lend a helping hand to the underprivileged.