Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has come under fire again for continued delays in handing over plots in the Fairdale area to about 70 purchasers.
The buyers were supposed to receive the plots a year ago.
The City promised to meet them on August 16 and 17 to discuss progress but no further communication was made as these days passed.
The purchasers lived in Mfuleni, Khayelitsha and other areas and were looking to improve their families’ lives by buying plots in Fairdale in the Blue Downs area.
Purchaser Temba Klaas, who bought his plot in 2019, said: “The City took full advantage of us as we were given only two months to raise funds before we had to pay for these plots.
“They threatened that if the funds were not paid by a specific time, our names would be removed from the beneficiary list.
“Thus, we had to go and get loans, now we are stuck with those loans while the City is playing hide and seek by not giving us a clear answer about when exactly we are getting our plots.”
Human settlements Mayco member Malusi Booi said the City had planned to hand over the plots in August 2021, however, issues emerged about the condition of the plots which the purchasers were not satisfied with and these delayed the handover.
In a new communication to the purchasers, the City said handing over was impossible due to the area being overgrown, illegal dumping taking place, civil infrastructure being vandalised, and electrical infrastructure needing to be provided.
To resolve this matter, a professional team and a new project manager was appointed to assess and implement a remedial work programme. Booi said a new meeting would take place on Thursday to provide an update.
While this news was promising, the purchasers remained frustrated by the delay and the continued changes in the project.
Zola Moyikwa, a purchaser from Philippi area, said this meeting was a welcome for the new professional team.
“They will waste another year until they go on leave and we will be introduced to yet another professional team. Why don't they do (a) handover or take over now? We are going to end up starting from scratch again,” Moyikwa said.
Another purchaser Phunyuzwa Tshemese said: “All we want is for the City to allow us to stay in our plots. I have been renting for all of these years and it is too much now.”
