The dreadful Gomora through the eyes of journalist Zandile Khumalo

ALEXANDRA, the oldest kasi in Mzansi, east of Joburg, paints a bleak picture of apartheid's painful history for blacks.

Three decades since the dawn of democracy, the youth and orphans in this kasi are into drugs, and you come across a family of 12 crammed in a tiny one-roomed house, and an unemployed mother of four, who's a school dropout, lives in regret and is tired of begging all her life. Her only wish is to die.

But with so much history this kasi prides itself in, it's also painful to see how 30 years into democracy Gomora, as it is called, has become a shadow of its former self and a ticking timebomb. Proper service delivery is a foreign concept here.

The kasi is synonymous with crime, scandals, poverty, unemployment, a lack of economic activities and houses stack on top of each other greet you as you land in this kasi and as you read stories in TRAPPED: Gomora’s fight to break out of poverty.

Trapped explained

The project is called TRAPPED because it speaks of untold stories of those living in pain and misery in and around Gomora.

TRAPPED is how the people of Gomora wake up every day feeling like they are living under a generational curse of poverty that's impossible to break out of.

Poverty is something we don't talk about enough, but it's crucial that we do because these stories signify hope, dreams, and the fight to break out a struggle you were born into, know nothing about.

During my visits to these families, their stories became more than just about poverty and fighting for a better life. They became more about the promises once made but have not materialised to this day.

R1,3 billion down the drain

The R1,3 billion Alexandra Renewal Project "came and failed" and its initiators are nowhere to be found.
The project would have increased local employment levels remarkably, slashing crime down to 50%, and upgraded additional housing in line with the de-densification project in most of the areas in this kasi.

But in the years gone by, many have given up hope, with some claiming, “politicians only come when they want to get votes from the poor but when they win, they forget them".

Thabo Mpopasi of the Alexandra Peace Ambassadors said people have become "numb".

Meanwhile, government officials have assured Daily Sun that the project is in motion and has never failed.

Meanwhile, the likes of ubaba Linda Twala is working extra-hard to restore Alex people's dignity. He's driven by kindness, Ubuntu and goodwill as he goes out of his way to ensure no family in this sprawling kasi goes to bed on an empty stomach.