Cape Town – Over R5 billion in housing projects have 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 project at 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.
“To deal with the criminality that prevents housing developments in the Western Cape and across the country, we require a whole-of-society approach.
“I call on communities to work with the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure and local governments to report land invaders and extortions who threaten housing projects,” Maseko said.
This is as 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.
ANC MPL and spokesperson on infrastructure Andile Lili called on Simmers to provide details of interventions his department has taken to address the challenges.
“We have actually posed a question to him on whether he has reported any of these incidents to the police.
“We call on the police units working on extortion and racketeering to also look at the cases of extortion on human settlements development projects,” Lili said.
Cape Times