DA’s Steenhuisen visits Brakpan

Plastic City, Main Reef Road and constant power outages.
These were the three reasons DA leader John Steenhuisen was in Brakpan last week.
The leader of the official opposition paid a visit to the informal settlement on Monday afternoon and later met with members of the business community.
“The community of Brakpan has for years consistently been under siege when it comes to the illegal activities of some of the occupants of Plastic City as well as the effect that their illegal activities have had on the direct environment, and, more recently the effect it has had on the collapse of Main Reef Road,” said Brandon Pretorius, DA councillor for Ward 97.
“Since 2016, the DA has been taking every step possible as an opposition party to resolve the matter of Plastic City, including using Parliament as a platform to force the City of Ekurhuleni to meet its obligations in relocating the occupants to a more suitable, safer and healthier living environment.”
According to Pretorius, the occupied land is only suitable for agriculture as it is dolomitic limestone and not suitable for human settlement.
“Illegal mining in the area is contributing to total road collapses. Furthermore, the activities of the occupants include taking waste from within the landfill site to the area being occupied,” said Pretorius.
He explained, in response to DA questions in Parliament, it was admitted that the majority of the occupants in Plastic City are undocumented migrants and only 15% of them are eligible for alternative accommodation.
“According to responses to parliamentary questions, the occupants are in this locale only for its economic benefits relating to illegal mining and illegal recycling from the Weltevreden Landfill Site,” said Pretorius.
“If the City was to secure the landfill site and end its easy, yet illegal access, this matter would begin to resolve itself. Instead, the City turns a blind eye to this situation.
“The main reason for the visit was to see for himself (Steenhuisen) the extent of the problem.
“He is deeply concerned about the bad governance that is the direct cause of the situation that the residents of Brakpan are currently finding themselves in.”
Following the visit to Plastic City and Main Reef Road, Steenhuisen met the business community of Brakpan and Springs at the NG Kerk Brakpan-Noord along Gardiner Avenue.
Key stakeholders and representatives of all businesses were invited to engage with Steenhuisen to highlight their frustrations and challenges and to speak on the impact that the lack of local service delivery within Ekurhuleni has on their respective businesses.
Mike Du Toit, the chairperson of the Eastern Gauteng Chamber of Commerce and Industry, attended on behalf of a large business community to present the challenges, such as power outages with which they are faced.