SAHRC looks into abuses of human rights at informal settlement in Moscow

OVERSIGHT VISIT

- MASABATA MKWANANZI [e-mail]

THE South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) conducted an oversight visit to the Moscow informal settlement in the Emfuleni Local Municipality (EML) in response to mounting complaints from residents that their basic rights are being violated.

Families living in the settlement say they have been forced to rely on pit toilets and walk long distances to access water, with a single Jojo tank, serving more than 500 households, last filled by the municipality in 2023.

The visit comes after a sit-in staged in April at the EML offices, where the Democratic Alliance (DA) and residents demanded urgent intervention and the immediate provision of chemical toilets as a temporary relief measure.

The Star previously reported on the DAs sustained pressure on EML, accusing it of allowing living conditions in Moscow to deteriorate to “dire and dangerous” levels, Residents described daily life without sanitation or reliable water as a constant struggle that exposes them to disease, particularly concerning as Gauteng is still recovering from the recent cholera outbreak.