Pretoria residents relieved as Wolwespruit informal settlement is relocated

Residents rejoiced at the removal of informal settlements in the East of Pretoria after struggling for almost two decades.

While many residents welcomed the relocation of Wolwespruit informal settlement residents, others asked when the two other informal settlements – Plastic View and Cemetery View – would be relocated.

Erasmuskloof homeowner Roxanne Doman, who resides adjacent to the Wolwespruit informal settlement, said they had experienced several incidents of crime, including the theft of gas bottles, solar lights and a fire pit from their property.

Residents near Wolwespruit informal settlement experienced crime

“Most nights are disrupted by excessively loud music, shouting and screaming,” she said.

“I have filed noise complaints with Tshwane metro police department so many times, but get excuses like, they can’t get the occurrence book to give me a reference number, they don’t have enough vans, or they don’t know where Wolwespruit informal settlement is.”

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Doman said in an attempt to reduce the disturbance, they even replaced their windows with thicker glass, but that has had little effect.

“We are also frequently subjected to overwhelming odours that compel us to keep all windows and doors closed. The daily smog has become unbearable and has severely affected my health,” she said.

“Additionally, due to ongoing and continuous cable theft, we are often left without electricity for extended periods, which further affects our quality of life and safety.”

Affect on value of property

Doman said the growing settlement also affected the value of property, with some residents selling their properties in fear of the informal settlement’s growth.

“We are extremely relieved and thankful for the progress made to relocate the informal settlement,” she said.

Ward 83 councillor Andrew Lesch confirmed the people who were illegally occupying the wetland in Erasmuskloof, Wolwespruit had been removed.

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Lesch said the first informal settlers moved into the area around 2005 and were relocated to Pienaarspoort last week.

“There are still a few people camping outside the property in Nossob Street and Solomon Mahlangu Road, but the human settlements department will be dealing with them as soon as possible,” he said.

Lesch said the occupation of the wetland had been a major source of concern for many years, but the number of people increased while efforts were made to evict them.

Occupation of wetland major source of concern

“I have put in a lot of effort and consulted with many departments and persons to find a permanent solution. The project gained momentum when the previous mayor, Cilliers Brink, established a committee to coordinate and drive the resettlement,” he said.

Lesch said the property was now guarded, the fixing of the fences had started before the rehabilitation process.