Glen Marikana: ‘It feels as if the metro is dumping us in Putfontein’
Mashiane also claimed that once people were allocated a stand in Putfontein, they were not allowed to build cement foundations
Glen Marikana residents queued at Kempton Park Police Station on Tuesday to submit affidavits to be taken to the South Gauteng High Court in a bid to stop the relocation to Putfontein.
The application went to to court again on Wednesday but at the time of publishing no news was available.
Elly Mashiane, Samuel Monyebodi and others applied for an interdict to stop the relocation process.
“According to the court order issued in November 2018, the municipality was meant to provide stands with a water pipe and toilet but they have to do so,” said Mashiane.
“They were meant to ensure we have those basic services, including electricity. Electricity could have been organised and come at a later stage once we have moved and settled on the land, but water and sanitation was meant to be ready even before the move.”
The matter first went to court on Monday.
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• Glen Marikana residents turn to high court to halt relocation
“The metro sent its lawyer to court and he told the advocate the relocation was running smoothly and that people were happy to move. He made reference to people going as far as organising their own transport for the move,” said Monyebodi.
“He also told the court there were many people who had been moved and that only about 500 were left at Glen Marikana, which is a lie. That is why today [Tuesday] we are collecting affidavits to show that we are more than 2 000 people remaining at the settlement and we don’t want to move until the land is ready.
“We don’t have a problem with moving, we just want the municipality to prepare the land as per the court order. As it stands it seems as though they just want to dump us on the Putfontein land.”
Monyebodi and Mashiane also told Express that one of their concerns was the children’s schools. They said children who had moved to Putfontein had not been able to go to school since last week because of the distance.
“It is far and most of the children attend school in Thembisa. We only received two weeks’ notice and not the agreed three months, which is not fair. In those months parents would have had ample time to make arrangements for their children and school,” said Monyebodi.
“We have heard of meetings being held to discuss the school issue but no feedback is ever given to us.”
Mashiane also claimed that once people were allocated a stand in Putfontein, they were not allowed to build cement foundations.
“People are left with no other option but to put their carpets on top of sand and erect their shacks. They promised us a better place but it appears we would be moving from one informal settlement to another,” said Mashiane.
“We also asked for the proof of purchase and change of ownership of the land but they refused. Why? How sure are we that the land indeed belongs to the municipality? Rumour has it the metro is only renting the land for three months.”
Mashiane and Monyebodi said from last week Thursday, people had been sleeping in a tent at Putfontein as the relocation process was stopped and people were not allocated space.
Ward councillor Jaco Terblanche told Express on Wednesday morning that the relocation process was going ahead as planned, but there was no sign of members of the human settlement department on Monday and Tuesday.
The City of Ekurhuleni failed to respond to Kempton Express’s questions regarding the matter.
