I waited 2 years for Telkom to install a DSLAM in my area. The only thing you can do is petition people in your neighbourhood to sign something saying they want ADSL installed in their home. If you get like 30 names together then you can probably hassle someone high up in Telkom with it. But this is unlikely to speed up the process by much, Telkom will do it as and when they feel like it.
Oh and as far as paying for a DSLAM - they cost several hundred thousand rand to install

It's not just an ADSL router it's a huge cabinet with routers, UPS's, patch panels, cooling, actual DLSAMs, etc.
Yip, sell and move.