UPDATE: REKORD APOLOGISES TO FAERIE GLEN RESIDENTS, READERS
Earlier today, an article titled “Faerie Glen residents want to separate themselves” was published onto Rekord’s online platform www.rekordeast.co.za. It contained a comparison between the planned Faerie Glen Nature Village and Orania. The unjustifiable comparison was brought to the attention of senior editors and we acted immediately to have it removed. Rekord accepts that public furore followed. Ward 44’s Councillor Ernst Botha’s press statement titled “Urgent Media Statement! – Rekord Newspaper Journalist Hell-Bent on Driving Racist Narrative” expressed disappointment in what had been published. Rekord has launched an internal investigation and we assure readers and residents that the matter is being dealt with at the highest level. Please note that the publication does not align itself with any biased agenda or form of discrimination. We subscribe to the Press Code and the balance, unbiased openness it prescribes. Accordingly, we apologise unreservedly for any confusion the above mentioned article may have caused. Where trust in our work has been negatively affected, we will take action to restore the community’s faith in our publications. We remain committed to fair and balanced reporting. The amended report appears below:
Faerie Glen residents seek to close off neighbourhood
Residents of Faerie Glen met last Wednesday at the NG Church on Glenwood Road to discuss a radical plan to turn the suburb into a fenced community, secluded from the rest of Pretoria.
“We want to close off Faerie Glen because crime in South Africa is high. We aim to make our neighbourhood a safe place for all who live here,” said Jaco van der Merwe, one of the residents leading the initiative.
Van der Merwe said that the idea was quite old and was discussed as early as 2000. They are planning to create a gated suburb similar to Groenkloof, but the plan is still in its preliminary phases for now.
“We have already had preliminary talks with the municipality and we intend to apply to council for the approval of access monitoring in accordance with applicable laws and regulations,” said Van der Merwe.
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“We also plan to install booms and cameras. Residents at the meeting expressed their support of the process to obtain the required approvals for access monitoring,” he said.
“Should the initiative be successful and the necessary permissions been given by the City of Tshwane, the area will be renamed Faerie Glen Nature Village, and funded by volunteers within the village.”
Ward councillor for Faerie Glen Ernst Botha said that although it is a long, daunting process, Faerie Glen Nature Village will most likely become a reality in the near future.
“The municipality has processes in place for instances where people would like to apply to close off specific areas,” said Botha.
“Closing off any area is a very long and technical process and anything can happen during the application stages, therefore putting a timeline down for Faerie Glen Nature Village is unfortunately not possible at this stage.”
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