Residents call for informal settlers to leave
There were divided opinions on whether it was because of elections or truly an attempt at resolving issues when Solly Msimanga held a community meeting.
Residents in Lonehill did not mince their words when they told former Mayor of Tshwane Solly Msimanga that he was just playing politics.
Msimanga, the DA’s Gauteng Premier candidate joined ward councillors for a meeting at The Village Nursery to discuss ongoing concerns and issues around the Ginger Park and Clay Oven informal settlements on February 6.
But residents were having none of it. They said they have been having the same meeting at the same place with the same people for six years and nothing concrete ever comes from the engagements. They say they live with harsh environmental and health hazards as well as criminal activity mostly coming from the squatter camps.
One resident who asked that we not disclose their name in the paper said, “This makes our lives a living hell and our rates go up. How are these meetings working? It is pathetic. Through these processes, however, we have learnt a lot.”
“We have drone footage of both these areas and know who the owner and his lawyer are, but you say you [Msimanga] cannot get hold of him? We know we can’t do anything until we get the owner’s permission. This should have been put together six years ago before it got to this disastrous state. There is no excuse. You take our money and squander it and then we live with the consequences with nobody taking accountability.”
“We have also asked why the police are not going into the areas, but we have heard that they are too scared because they are also involved in drug gangs in informal settlements. Why is Saps not forced to go in there and deal with these drug lords?
Msimanga said a court order has been issued, however, it has not been attended to in one of the properties which makes it their primary task to find out the reasons behind it.
“I’m not here to lie and give you quick solutions because there are none. There are quite a few things that need to happen. We need to determine why the court order has not been acted upon. I know that across the road, there have been shack markings of people who live there. These are the people who will be beneficiaries of a housing project that has been started in Diepsloot. The challenge comes in when there are illegal foreigners in the country. By law, the government cannot give houses or a piece of land to someone who is not a South African or someone who does not have legal papers to be in the country.”
“Now you try to remove these people, the human rights lawyers would jump in and say that ‘you cannot do anything without giving them an alternative and the government says, ‘I cannot do anything because it is against the law’.”
“This has made it difficult for us to give the residents a piece of land. We want to get home affairs involved so that way we would be able to prove that these people are not legally in the country or don’t possess any kind of documentation for them to benefit before allocating the land. Because by doing so, we can use that letter to go to court and say ‘We have dealt with South Africans that qualify and we have a branch where they can be accommodated. That is if we are talking about a government-owned piece of land. If it is on private property and the owner has not said anything it becomes difficult because these guys can run to court and say, this has nothing to do with you because it’s a private matter and property.”
He reiterated that if people are here illegally, there are protocols to be followed in terms of clearing that piece of land. Msimanga promised better communication with residents on any progress they make and committed to holding a follow-up meeting soon.
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