The Petitions Committee of the City of Johannesburg will meet on 28 July to try to resolve housing tension in Alexandra which is threatening to spill over into a fully-fledged war.
The tension in the K206 Settlement’s extensions 9 and 10 arise from the faulty 2010 allocation of houses in the area by the then-Alexandra Renewal Project (Arp) which has since been swallowed up by the Johannesburg Development Agency.
When Arp allocated the houses, it created a feudal tenant and landlord system among people of similar socio-economic backgrounds. The RDP flatlets were given to individuals, while the two attached ground floor rooms were allocated to other residents as tenants to the owners of the flatlets for a five-year period.
The ‘tenants’ were ordered to pay rent of about R350 to the ‘landlord’, and after five years, the tenants would be relocated to new housing projects.
The five-year contract agreement has lapsed and the ‘landlords’ have filed a petition with the City demanding they evict the ‘tenants’ who have not been co-operative and have not stuck to the agreement to pay the monthly rental of R350.
On the other hand, the ‘tenants’ too have filed a counter petition, demanding that they be given title deeds to the controversial rooms or be found alternative accommodation as they are not prepared to pay the R350 monthly rental.
According to councillor Shadrack Mkhonto, who has been forever mediating between the warring parties, the Petitions Committee will meet with a view to finding a permanent solution to the problem.
Mkhonto said Housing MMC Dan Bovu will not attend the meeting as he has a prior engagement, but officials from his department, among them Pennuel Maduna, will be present at the meeting.
After years of dilly-dallying, Mkhonto said he was happy the City has finally decided to engage the issue with a view to finding a lasting solution.
“I don’t want the City to waste any more time on this issue, as blood could soon flow in the streets of Alex. We need to avert this, and the only way is finding a permanent and workable solution to a City housing bungle,” Mkhonto said.
Details: Shadrack Mkhonto 079 444 1464.
