Leader of the forum, Richard de Koker, says changes are desperately needed because for far too long, residents of areas such as the Mahala Park informal settlement have been neglected and live in the most appalling conditions. He says it's time that residents exercise their rights to bring about the changes and vote for the right candidates. He is determined to solve issues of non-service delivery which continue to plague them. De Koker says residents are subject to squalor conditions with no water and sanitation, whilst major and essential facilities have been left to ruins.

"We had a paving project that was supposed to have been done (in different areas, including this one but it never came over to this side ). We are still asking where the budget went that was allocated in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP), because still today residents are living in this type of situation where they don't know if they will ever get services," he adds.  

De Koker said over 60 residents have lived in the area for over 27 years with no service delivery. He said a hospital, which was used as the first Tuberculosis Hospital in the country, has been left in ruins and no efforts to refurbish and renew it have been made.

De Koker says these are the reasons why residents need to bring change, by voting. On Monday about 623 000 registered voters in the province are expected to cast their votes at 728 voting stations.

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