Cape Town - Mitchells Plain residents are up in arms over the planned relocation to their area of more than a thousand dwellers illegally occupying the Central railway line.
The Housing Development Agency (HDA) and Prasa are planning to relocate the illegal dwellers to the Weltevreden Wedge at the Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA) in ward 43.
Last month leaders of the Prasa land occupiers in Langa and Philippi were shown the land where they would be relocated to by Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula.
The Mitchells Plain residents follow in the footsteps of Macassar residents, who are trying to stop Prasa and the HDA in their tracks after they approached private land owners in the area to acquire land.
A petition has already been started, with residents calling for a stop to the planned relocation.
Residents said the influx of people with no respect for the law or other people’s properties was a huge threat to the law-abiding and tax-paying residents of Philippi and surrounding areas.
Ward councillor Elton Jansen said no consultation had been done with the ward councillor, Sub-Council 12 and 17 in Mitchells Plain, or the host communities in the PHA, which includes the neighbouring farmers, residents of smallholdings and informal settlements.
Jansen said he cannot support the relocation of more people to the area as there were existing challenges in the area, with the informal settlements relating to basic services on land belonging to other spheres of government and private owners.
Jansen said crime in the PHA was also spiralling out of control and moving more people to the area would exacerbate the problem.
“Informal settlements like Siqalo, Oasis and Egoli have been struggling without basic services like electricity for years because they are situated on private land and property owners refuse to give the City permission to provide those much-needed services. To move more people to the area is a recipe for conflict and disaster,” he said.
Jansen said an assessment was supposed to have been done regarding the current situation and challenges in the area where they were planning to move the people.
Siyahlala informal settlement chairperson in Langa, Mxoleleni Ngutyana, said leaders were shown the parcels of land by Mbalula and were satisfied that it was suitable for relocation, which he said would take place in November.
Ngutyana said they were taken aback by discussions on social media opposing their relocation to the area. He said while they understood the residents’ concerns, he said their prejudices were uncalled for.
Prasa and the HDA were approached for comment but could not respond by the time of publication.