Informal settlement in Alberton North is a headache for businesses

Businesses operating on Alberton North’s First Avenue, Navvi Street, Union Road, Radio and Andries Pretorius and other streets, are feeling the negative impact of an informal settlement nearby in Roxton.

Many business premises surround the sprawling informal settlement on abandoned land, apparently owned by the Passenger Rail of South Africa (PRASA).

A business leader in the area who spoke on a condition of anonymity, claims most petty crimes in the area can be linked to the informal settlement.

“Most people in that informal settlement are unemployed; they do not have proper water and sanitation. My biggest issue is children also live there, and the government has abandoned these people.

“The City of Ekurhuleni (CoE), the Gauteng Human Settlements Department, and PRASA are all aware of this issue; they don’t care,” said the frustrated source.

Asked about the impact of the informal settlement on businesses, the source said: “There have been security threats, multiple burglaries, including the theft of solar panels and electrical components. We had to invest significant resources in bolstering security to protect our staff and machinery.

“A client was robbed at knifepoint in our parking lot and drug dealings are visibly occurring near the settlement, yet no action has been taken.”

Some families who previously lived in the informal settlement were reportedly relocated to Thinasonke, a township about 7,5km outside Alberton. However, some returned to the settlement because of a lack of safeguarding by PRASA and local law enforcement agencies.

This led to further invasions on the land and a continuation of the problem.

The Alberton Record previously reported on the same issue in a letter published on February 14, 2017, by Linda de Jong, titled, “Business suffers big losses, SAPS does nothing.”

Read the full letter here.

“We have a business in Union Road, Roxton, Alberton North, and have been on these premises since 2005. An informal settlement developed behind our premises and since December 2015 we had non-stop burglaries which resulted in thousands of Rands in damages and losses, not to mention the enormous expense of having to add more and more security,” wrote Linda at the time.

A comment from the City of Ekurhuleni

Relocate the dwellers to a proper area with access to adequate water and sanitation

It is important to note that the City has previously relocated the same Community to Thinasonke Housing Project but for reasons unknown to the Department the settlement did not reduce in numbers. Instead, it continued to increase.

This land parcel is privately owned (Passenger Rail of South Africa _ PRASA) but we continue to monitor the situation to ensure it does not expand.

Following a stakeholder engagement held with PRASA it was agreed, among others, that PRASA need to identify alternative land for relocation of the families.

The City is in a continuous engagement with PRASA with a view to resolve the matter.

Therefore, relocation can only be done once an alternative land parcel which is suitable for human habitation has been provided.

Safeguard the land post-relocation to prevent further illegal occupation

As this land parcel and infrastructure belongs to PRASA, the entity in collaboration with EMPD and SAPS are responsible to safeguard the area to prevent re-occupation.

Address the ongoing impact on businesses, including rising crime rates, property depreciation, and infrastructure damage.

We are going to scaling up security on our part, and we believe that PRASA can also be engaged to determine their plans as well.