Cape Town - Gugulethu residents who have been waiting for years for their homes have been dealt another blow after the contractor for the Luyolo housing development suspended activities due to extortion and intimidation.
The housing project is set to benefit residents in need, including backyarders from Gugulethu, Manenberg and New Rest, and residents who have been occupying the Luyolo community hall.
The contractor is said to have suspended construction on the site following instances of extortion and intimidation.
In the latest incident, four security workers at the construction site were allegedly shot at by unknown suspects.
Two separate shooting incidents at the site were also reported earlier this year. The first incident occurred in February at the Tambo Village site, which resulted in an imposed site closure for a week.
Another incident in March resulted in the suspension of the project for 11 weeks.
ANC ward 40 councillor, Bongani Ngcombolo, said residents who had been waiting for their homes for years had been left disappointed again.
“We are very disappointed, especially the residents occupying the community hall who were supposed to move out before the end of the year.
“We are also frustrated that this government can be controlled by gangsters.
“This government is giving in to criminal syndicates. But we know why there are all these delays in our projects. It is because ward 40’s constituency does not vote for the DA. They are doing this deliberately to frustrate our community,” he said.
The department of infrastructure recently revealed R5 billion in housing projects in the province had been halted within the last five financial years due to land invasions and acts of criminality.
Infrastructure MEC Tertuis Simmers said the gangsters delaying the projects were from the very same community as the beneficiaries. “The additional expenditure we have to spend on security is taking away more opportunities.
“Instead of playing petty politics on a matter that affects service delivery for qualifying beneficiaries of our province who should benefit from the Luyolo Project in Gugulethu, the ward councillor needs to realise that he has a role to play as the ward councillor with the community as well, not just the national and provincial spheres in terms of human settlement delivery,” said Simmers.
DA Western Cape human settlements spokesperson Matlhodi Maseko said there was a concerning pattern of criminality targeting housing projects, with the specific intent to demand protection money from project managers.
“We cannot stand by and let criminals prevent housing beneficiaries from timeously gaining access to their long-awaited homes,” said Maseko.
Cape Times