By Ndaba Dlamini
WITHIN the next 18 months, people living in Madelakufa and Freedom Square informal settlements in Tembisa will have adequate accommodation.
Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor Duma Nkosi made this promise when he hosted the first of the Zizwele Nawe roadshows, a community outreach programme, at the Mehlareng Stadium in Tembisa on Tuesday, 2 August.
Also there was Gauteng MEC for Housing Nomvula Mokonyane and scores of residents from the two settlements.
Community participation was essential to the provision of housing, and the roadshow was part of the Metro's efforts to keep in touch with its residents.
"We are here today to enlighten you on what we are doing in our efforts to provide adequate accommodation. At the Nelson Mandela settlement, work has already started on upgrading informal structures, even though progress is slow in Extensions 23 and 24," Nkosi said.
Mokonyane said the provincial government was in league with the Metro in its efforts to de-densify some parts of informal settlements. "We have identified four pockets of land in Ekurhuleni where people will be resettled. As provincial government, we will chip in monetary assistance to de-densify and eradicate informal settlements in order to provide adequate housing."
There have already been efforts to de-densify Madelakufa. In 1998, 300 families were relocated from the settlement to Mayibuye and in 2000 about 450 families were relocated to the Kaalfontein Housing Development. This was done so Madelakufa, which consists of Madelakufa 1 and 2, could be upgraded.
However, only 492 stands in Madelakufa 2 could be created since most of the shacks were situated in an area where development could not take place. After the relocations, about 200 stands were serviced and top structures built, and beneficiaries were allocated their houses.
The rest of the land was invaded after the relocations at a higher density than before, making the development of the rest of the stands impossible.
Since the establishment of the Metro in December 2000, priority has been given to upgrading Madelakufa and relocating residents; this includes identifying alternative land.
"Strydom land has been identified for de-densification purposes. Land presently also being investigated or in the process of being acquired are portions of Klipfontein, land adjacent to Clayville and other smaller portions of land where higher density development can be implemented," Nkosi said.
Already 3 312 people in Madelakufa 1 and 2 had been registered at the Metro as approved housing beneficiaries. "We have also registered 1 054 households in Freedom Square, which means over 4 000 people are in need of accommodation."
Nkosi appealed to residents not to invade the land from which other people had been relocated.
Mokonyane echoed his comments, saying people who invaded empty tracts of land and then rented portions of that land would not be tolerated.
"As provincial government, we are not looking at upgrading informal settlements only, but at rejuvenating Tembisa as a whole. Upgrading of hostels into family units is currently under way. In Vusumuzi Hostel work has been done to turn the hostel into family units. We are now in the second phase of holistic hostel infrastructural development," the MEC said.
After the officials' presentations, residents were able to ask questions or voice their opinions about developments in Tembisa. Many lamented the slow pace of housing delivery.
Nkosi said those who had registered in 1996 and 1997 had been given priority and were being housed first.
Mokonyane appealed to people not to sell the houses they acquired through the Reconstruction and Development Programme. "This creates problems because the housing backlog will keep on growing."
Source: www.ekurhuleni.com
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