‘Relocation has nothing to do with politics’

The process of relocating Mooiplaats residents to Olievenhoutbosch has temporarily been put on hold, the Tshwane metro said on Thursday. This comes after residents of Olievenhoutbosch staged demonstrations on the R55 to prohibit the community from the Mooiplaats informal settlement from relocating to the area recently. The Tshwane metro’s spokesperson, Blessing Manale, said the council regretted that its plans to relocate Mooiplaats residents to a new, permanent home in Olievenhoutbosch, as initially agreed upon, had been met with resistance from some members of the Olievenhoutbosch community, and cited numerous concerns.

“The disruption caused by these residents has necessitated a temporary delay in the relocation to ensure that future plans are implemented with ease, under safe and secure conditions and with the acceptance of the community,” Manale said.

The executive mayor of Tshwane, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, commented: “We view these protests as final election gimmicks by certain political parties, aimed at creating a rift between the community and its political leadership and call upon all the residents of Olievenhoutbosch to work with us as we lead the integration of a bigger and better Tshwane, where all have equal access to economic opportunities, social amenities and municipal services. As we appeal for patience, we equally call upon residents to desist from participating in activities aimed at dividing our communities and delaying development initiatives in our areas worst hit by the past imbalances.”

Manale accused the Democratic Alliance (DA) of being desperate to attract undecided voters by deciding on behalf of the Olievenhoutbosch community to compile a list of the demands on service delivery and further said no memorandum was presented to the council when the protests and road blockade occurred.

“We regard this as opportunistic assertions by the DA that the disruptive blockade was a sign of service delivery challenges in the areas and call upon the DA to clarify its stance on violent protest, the illegal disruption of services and the intimidation of city employees in the area. We reiterate that the decision to relocate the Mooiplaats informal settlement was taken after meaningful engagement between Tshwane and all stakeholders with a common development objective of accelerating our efforts to provide decent housing opportunities and security of tenure to our people. We remain committed under the Re Aga Tshwane programme to fast-track the process of formalising informal settlements, proclaim un-proclaimed townships, issue title deeds to RDP beneficiaries and relocate families who have settled along public and private land illegally,” added Manale.

Kenny Masha, coordinator of the ward committee in Olievenhoutbosch, said the protest had nothing to do with politics and that the community of Olievenhoutbosch was not influenced by the DA. “There was no member of the community who was wearing any T-shirt of any political party. The mayor should just admit that this is a challenge of service delivery and stop diverting attention from this matter,” said Masha. According to the secretary of the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), Kleinboy Aphane, the mayor is causing confusion among the two communities.

“The mayor forgot that he acknowledged our petition that was presented to him previously that houses should be built and allocated for Olievenhoutbosch as planned in the previous years. His move angered many and the mayor should not use the elections as a shield, as Sanco is affiliated to the ANC.”

Speaking on behalf of the Mooiplaats community, Charles Malete said even if the mayor could organise metro police and soldiers to escort them to relocate, this would not solve anything, as their lives would still be in danger. Shadow ward councillor for the DA in Tshwane, Councillor Zweli Khumalo, said in a statement that the relocation has been a bone of contention for a long time and had the capacity to turn violent if the council did not heed the people’s call for better service delivery.