Almost 1 700 Disteneng residents settle into fully-fledged residential area
The municipality took the decision to upgrade the area into a township with almost 3 000 residential sites re-established, registered and proclaimed.
POLOKWANE – After a long battle, the Polokwane Municipality evicted and demolished more than 200 shacks at the Disteneng informal settlements after obtaining a court order.
The occupants had been staying in the area for quite some time illegally, and plans were afoot to develop the area into a proper township. At the time, residents attempted to stop the evictions by blocking roads in the area and staging illegal protests.
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According to Tshipa Selala, Municipal Spokesperson, these moving of residents could be viewed as resettlements instead of evictions. “Residents who were eligible for low-cost housing were relocated to other areas while RDP houses were in the process of being built for them.” He said they had been resettled into a formalised and demarcated site.
“Almost 1 700 residents were resettled and Disteneng is now a fully-fledged residential area after the municipality took the decision to upgrade the area into a township with almost 3 000 residential sites that have now been re-established, registered and proclaimed.”
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The remaining sites, which will be sold, are reserved for middle and high income earners.
“Remaining households were relocated to a holding area in Ext 106, thereafter they will be relocated to Ext 126 later in this financial year, while basic engineering services like water and sanitation are being installed.”
Finah Moneatsi, one of the residents who has been resettled into a new RDP house, says she is over the moon because she would never have been able to build a house for herself. “People used to make fun of us, now we make fun of them because we are staying in tiled houses.”
