Controversial land allocation in Khutsong: Ward councillor issues stands
The stands were handed out in an open veld in Khutsong where a municipal project was not completed in the late 1980s.
In a controversial step, a Merafong City Local Municipality ward councillor and member of the mayoral committee (MMC) has started giving empty stands to residents in Khutsong.
Lebogang Mangaliso, the ward councillor for Ward 6 in Khutsong and the MMC for Safety and Security, was almost involved in an altercation with some residents of Khutsong Extension 2 over this matter.
Some residents who have lived in this area for a long time are unhappy because the new stands can affect the value of their property and even block access to their yards.
Some of the stands are also given out to people who are not South African nationals, despite the fact that many local people need houses and safe places to stay.
“You cannot just hand out empty land to people. To do this there must be a council decision, otherwise it is certainly illegal. This area is also unsafe for people to stay in,” says an opposition party councillor, Welile Fihla, to who some of the residents complained.
“They are putting the stones for these stands so close to my gate that I will have to drive around them to get into my yard,” one of the affected residents complained discouraged.
Mangaliso lashed back, saying that he did hold a community meeting over the matter.
“I made this decision without a council resolution because many people need houses. If people stay here the area will also be much safer. They will pay the municipality R30 000 for the stands and make agreements to pay for services,” he said.
According to Mangaliso, the veld that he has given the residents permission to claim stands on was already divided by a municipal contractor in the late 1980s.
The same contractor also put in water, sewerage and electrical infrastructure.
Although the electrical cables and other infrastructure have been stolen, there is still one electrical box left.
Mangaliso denied that the ground is unsafe.
He also promised to remove illegal miners who have been digging for gold in the same veld for the past few years and fill their diggings with ground.
He says he will soon start a similar action in the Rest in Peace area.
Although the Herald asked the municipality’s marketing and communications manager, Temba Fezani, about the matter, he did not respond.
