POLOKWANE – Tension between the Polokwane Municipality and alleged beneficiaries of Ext 40 land near the Westenburg traffic lights escalated on Tuesday after a meeting intended to resolve a long-standing land allocation dispute collapsed, with residents threatening to continue occupying the land until their demands are met.

The latest developments follow a land occupation on Saturday by members of the group, who say they have waited more than a decade for the municipality to allocate stands promised to them.

‘Whoever removes us will pay’

During Tuesday’s meeting at the site, representatives of the affected families expressed frustration over repeated delays and what they described as broken promises by the municipality.

“Whoever comes and removes us from here, they will be able to pay because we are not going anywhere,” said Wayne Southon, a representative of the group known as the Ward 19 beneficiaries.

Southon told Polokwane Observer that the group had exhausted other avenues to resolve the matter and would no longer accept further delays.

“We are occupying by force because we are tired. We have been going to the municipality for more than 10 years. We went to council, we got a resolution and till date they have not come back,” he said.

“We are tired of being shot with rubber bullets with our children. This is where we belong.”

Displaced former Pietersburg residents

Affected families say they are displaced former Pietersburg residents who were relocated to make way for an industrial area and were promised residential stands and Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses at Ext 40 in the early 2000s.

According to the group, the municipality had also indicated that the stands would be delivered by 2022. The allocation process, however, remains unresolved.

Repeated protests over delays

Several protests over delays have taken place repeatedly, including demonstrations in 2023, when residents again raised concerns about the lack of progress.

Many of the alleged beneficiaries are now over 50 years old and share overcrowded homes with their children, siblings and grandchildren in Westenburg, according to accounts provided to Polokwane Observer during an engagement at the site.

They say limited space and a lack of employment opportunities have made it increasingly difficult for their families to improve their living conditions.

Divide-and-conquer claim

Southon accused the municipality of pursuing a divide-and-conquer strategy and presented what he claimed was evidence that one individual had been allocated seven stands, marked on October 8, 2022.

The claims could not be independently verified at the meeting.

Acting mayor acknowledges neglect

Acting Mayor Joosuf Pemma addressed the gathering, accompanied by the MMC for human settlements and a municipal business unit director.

Pemma acknowledged that Ward 19 had been neglected and apologised to residents for the circumstances that had led to their frustration.

“Housing is an issue across the board. Ward 19 has been neglected. It is something I must admit. I want to apologise because you shouldn’t have had to go through this extent to get what you need,” he said.

Administrative overlaps complicate process

Pemma said the municipal council had approved stands for the ward three years ago, but administrative overlaps had complicated the process. He did not elaborate on the nature of these overlaps.

He added that the stands would now have to be reallocated for low-cost housing, although this had not been their original intended purpose.

Pemma proposed:

• A community meeting on Wednesday at 6:00 PM at the Westenburg Hall, where residents’ details would be verified against official records
• Establishing a project steering committee that would meet monthly to monitor progress

The acting mayor questioned the reliability of a list of beneficiaries compiled at the site, suggesting that names might have been added after the list circulated on social media.

He said the verification process should begin with the municipality’s official housing database dating back to 2000.

Municipal teams would also assist residents who were not yet registered on the national housing database, starting Thursday.

Residents remain unconvinced

The proposals, however, failed to restore confidence among those gathered.

Residents expressed deep distrust of further assurances from the municipality, with some indicating that they intended to return on Wednesday to continue occupying and demarcating the land.

The dispute remains unresolved.