Cape Town - Over R5 billion in housing projects has been halted within the past five financial years in the Western Cape due to criminal activities and land invasions.
This is according to Infrastructure MEC Tertuis Simmers in response to a DA parliamentary question recently.
At least 47 housing development projects have been halted affecting more than 45 000 beneficiaries across the province.
Simmers said providing housing opportunities remained a priority, however efforts have been deterred by criminal elements.
“We are still deterred from our programme of action by certain external elements which include the so-called construction Mafia holding our projects to ransom.
“As well as the unwarranted community dynamics that tend to delay our project including the tendency of queue-jumping, by invading strategic land in an attempt to strong-arm my department,” he said.
DA provincial spokesperson on human settlements, Matlhodi Maseko, said criminal activities have been exacerbated by the national state of disaster and the ban on evictions two years ago.
Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF) chairperson Ndithini Tyhido said the incidents pointed to a failure of the inter-governmental relations.
“It also paints a picture of a failing public participation policy framework by all three of these levels of government. How has the government through SAPS not have established and deployed anti-construction site destabilisation units, yet?
“The beneficiaries of all these housing projects should not be used as a scapegoat.
“The Western Cape government must take responsibility for its failure to meaningfully engage with local and beneficiary representative bodies as it is required by law,” he said.
Mfuleni Extension Two community activist Luthando Mcuthula said the development of vacant land needs to be fast-tracked to avoid illegal occupation.
“In Mfuleni and its surrounding areas there are many projects that have been halted because of land invasions and community differences. There are people who have been living in informal settlements for years but when it is time that they get houses, people start unnecessary politics which at times leads to people not getting houses.
“It is not easy to remove people from where they have settled and we have seen that especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Some would even go as far as occupying an area that they see is not suitable for putting structures or for a human to live in. The reason people occupy these areas is that they are not being utilised by the government but once people start to occupy it, the government says the land was going to be used for development. You ask yourself how can land that has been vacant for more than 20 years now be used for development and how come people did not know that?” Mncuthula said.
Burundi informal settlement community activist, Luzipho Ncanywa has called for the government to protect vacant land which will be used for development.
“People don't occupy used land, they only occupy unused land,” said Ncanywa.
Cape Times