​Lerato Mailoane
In a move towards enhancing living conditions within informal settlements, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has confirmed his forthcoming visit to Slovo Park on Wednesday, to directly engage with their service delivery concerns.
The decision follows a meeting Lesufi held with the Slovo Park Community Development Forum at Eldorado Park Police Station on Tuesday, where the members voiced their deep distress over the dire state of the informal settlement.
Slovo Park Community Development Forum Lerato Marole implored Premier Lesufi to intervene, as the living conditions of the residents have remained stagnant for three decades.
"We have exhausted all avenues of engaging the government. We formed a task team comprising national, provincial, and municipality human settlements officials, and we have been meeting for seven years. 
"In these meetings, we agreed on a social impact document which residents signed, but the municipality and the province have since failed to sign. They are shifting goalposts, but nothing has been done," Marole lamented.
Marole said the community's plight had been underscored by the fact that they reside in subpar conditions despite the informal settlement's establishment predating neighbouring townships like Lehae.
In a demonstration of their dissatisfaction, he said residents protested in August by obstructing the N12 freeway near Eldorado Park.
Their protest was fuelled by the lack of basic infrastructure, such as running water and proper sanitation facilities, as they continued to rely on pit latrines.
Marole said the community launched an application to the Johannesburg High Court with the help of the Socio-Economic Rights Institute on the City's failure to apply to the Gauteng Provincial Government for funding to upgrade Slovo Park in terms of the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP).
According to the UISP, informal settlements must be upgraded where they are, with minimal disruption to social and livelihood networks and full community participation.
"In 2016, the court ruled in our favour residents and found that the City of Joburg acted unlawfully by failing to apply the UISP. The court ordered the city to start the process prescribed in the UISP and set down time frames," Marole explained.
Despite this legal victory, Marole said minimal progress has been observed, aside from the electrification of the informal settlement. He appealed to the provincial government for intervention.
In response, Premier Lesufi said he has already asked his office to cancel all his engagements for tomorrow and would like to see "first hand" the situation in the area.
He emphasised that the provincial government is dedicated to intensifying efforts by prioritising interventions in Townships, Informal Settlements, and Hostels (TISH) areas. 
"I want to take a tour of the informal settlement tomorrow. I will visit the area next Wednesday, where I will bring a delegation of MECs, the Housing Minister and the Mayor of the City of Joburg so that all role players are present to give the residents a conclusive response because there are a lot of role players in this issue. All role players must inform me before I respond without engaging all spheres of government," Lesufi affirmed.