Land-grab chaos in Mbekweni
2011-09-22
Lise Beyers
CHAOS erupted in Mbekweni on Tuesday when a few hundred residents scrambled to stake their claim on a piece of land demarcated for the Drommedaris Project. The site, bordering Mbekweni and Dal Josaphat, was set aside for emergency housing almost seven years ago with the deadline for the construction of a sample house having been June 2009. But only last year were the civil works completed and no stone has been turned since, despite a promise by the then housing councillor for Drakenstein Municipality that construction would commence by the end of 2010. Through the years the site has been plagued by administrative difficulties. Residents of especially OR and Nether Park, which borders the railway line, are first in line for resettlement there. Residents have been threatening to grab the land for a while now due to the fact that no direction has been given as to exactly who will be receiving plots, and when. A major concern for residents next to the railway line is their safety. Each year many people are killed while crossing the railway track and homes are often ravaged by fires. While community members who planned to build their houses there were claiming their stakes by pegging markers at a distance of 15 by 15 metres into the ground, the Municipality was urgently applying for an interdict to stop the action. By Tuesday afternoon the site looked very much like that of a gold rush. A large police contingent was present at all times, but no incidents of violence were reported. A spokesperson for the Municipality, May Carolissen, confirmed that the Municipality had applied for an interdict, but at the time of going to print, no action had yet been taken against the illegal squatters. Councillor for ward 16 in Mbekweni, Victor Mbubu, said that the action of the residents was purely a sign of impatience. “They have been waiting very long for houses, but nothing is happening at the Drommedaris Project.” But insiders are saying that this action is a political ploy to discredit the current powers that be, while the stalling of the project is directly due to the fumbling of the previous regime.
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