- Families within the enormous Marikana Soutpan casual settlement north of Pretoria have been informed 5 years in the past they might profit from a “mega project” within the space.
- The undertaking was to be accomplished in 2023-24.
- Now they’ve been informed by the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements that this has been cancelled as a consequence of “land invasions” and a scarcity of appropriate land.
- Instead they’ll profit from an “Informal Settlement Upgrading Project”, they have been informed at a gathering final month. But no funds or timeline was supplied.
The lengthy awaited “mega project” promised by the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements to households in Marikana Soutpan casual settlement north of Pretoria has been cancelled. Instead, they’ve been informed, their space will profit from an “Informal Settlement Upgrading Project”. But within the absence of a timeline or funds, the households are anxious.
In 2017, residents of Marikana Soutpan have been informed their space can be developed as a part of a mega undertaking to be accomplished by 2023-24. In 2020, once they requested why nothing had occurred. They have been informed the undertaking was on maintain due to “land invasions” within the space. In April final yr, Human Settlements said the plan “is still in place”.
But now, it appears, the “mega project” has been deserted.
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According to the Tshwane Department of Human Settlements and Planning, greater than 10 000 households dwell within the space. There is not any electrical energy, water or sanitation. Most households rely on unlawful electrical energy and water connections; some have pit bathrooms and a few folks have constructed brick homes and a makeshift sewage system. People moved to the world in 2012.
On 29 September this yr, residents marched to the Human Settlements workplaces at hand in a memorandum. Last month, a neighborhood assembly was attended by greater than 700 folks.
At the assembly, Sam Mohatlane from the Department informed residents that the mega undertaking had been dropped as a consequence of funds constraints and the shortage of land the place folks could possibly be relocated to make method for the mega undertaking.
“That type of development is no longer implementable. We have decided to provide services, fix roads and provide electricity. People will also receive stands and title deeds so that those that are able to build for themselves, do so and not wait for the government,”
stated Mohatlane.
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Thabang Maunatlala has lived in Marikana since 2014. She and her three kids make use of a pit rest room and use a paraffin range to warmth water and to cook dinner. Maunatlala stated that they had given up hope that companies can be supplied.
“For the past three weeks, we haven’t had water. It only comes out at 2am and that’s when we fill our buckets,”
she stated.
Community chief Lolo Lekalakala was one of many first residents to place up shacks within the settlement. He stated he felt let down by the division.
“Children have died in this area because of illegal electricity connections. It’s been too long,”
he stated.
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Resident Mabel Baloyi stated a seven-year-old boy had died a yr in the past from electrocution. “We want services, we’ll just have to see when it happens,” stated Baloyi. “I don’t trust the government anymore.”
Marcia Maruma moved to the settlement in March 2021. She lives together with her husband and three kids. They purchased a home from a former resident after she noticed an advert on Facebook. The home has three bedrooms, two bogs, a kitchen and a storage. She is afraid the construction shall be demolished.
“If they say they’re going to demolish that structure, are they going to compensate us? That structure is the reason I relocated from Johannesburg. I needed security for my children. We had just been hit by Covid. No one knew what was going to happen,”
stated Maruma.
In response to GroundUp’s questions, Human Settlements spokesperson Tahir Sema stated the mega undertaking couldn’t go forward as a consequence of challenges of “land invasion and land assembly issues”.
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“The Department had to switch from a mega project to informal settlements upgrading because of the current land invasions. Mega projects require vacant land and the department does not have land where a large number of people can be relocated to while starting the project,” stated Sema.
She stated they deliberate to “complete all processes” by 31 March 2023.
“There is a standing court order that prohibits people from building permanent structures since it was invaded. Any built structure is illegal and therefore the Department cannot compensate people who violated the court order and the municipal planning bylaws. The Department’s Planning Unit will work hard to ensure that demolishing structures will be the last resort and only those structures that encroach on the actual infrastructure will be demolished.”
Responding to the problem of everlasting buildings, Sema stated,
She couldn’t present GroundUp with the copy of the courtroom order.
This article was first printed on GroundUp