Mathambo residents victims of broken promises

Editor

AS a DA councillor and chairperson of the DA North Durban Executive Committee I was requested by concerned residents in Redhill to assist with land invasion that was taking place opposite the Mathambo Informal Settlement. The land that was invaded by approximately 30 people is a small triangle of space which abuts North Coast Road and serves no real purpose as it is to small for any permanent structure.

However, land invasion cannot be condoned under any circumstances, and credit to the authorities that the land invasion unit came in and quickly demolished the shacks. This resulted in tyre burning, toppling of electricity pylons and road closure with fires and rocks. I engaged with the displaced invaders to better understand why they had invaded and were now protesting violently. The answer staggered me – these 30 people had been residents of the Mathambo Informal Settlement for up to 15 years and when a fire destroyed shacks some months ago they became displaced.

The ANC-run council sent in officials who made the usual empty promises to rehouse them in the Cornubia township, which to date has not materialised. In the meantime, council has built more permanent structures in Mathambo but has not accommodated these 30 displaced people who, I might add, include woman and children. Many of them had taken temporary shelter under a nearby bridge waiting for council to assist.

I will be asking our DA members who sit on the housing committee to raise the plight of these 30 people in an effort to find a speedy resolution to this particular matter. The DA remains firm that their can be no land invasions under any circumstance but we certainly can be the voice of those who are victims of broken broken promises.

Rory Macpherson

DA PR Councillor

Ward 102