Cape Town -A quick visit by Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi to four areas recently ravaged by shack fires was met with anger by some Khayelitsha residents.
Kubayi joined Human Settlements mayco member Malusi Booi who conducted inspections on Tuesday, starting in Dunoon, moving on to Masiphumelele and Town Two in Khayelitsha, and ending in Phola Park, Philippi.
In Dunoon, where 120 families were left destitute, Kubayi was not only shocked to find that residents had rebuilt their shacks with no space or passages between them, but that some were paying R800 in rent to landlords, some of whom where not from the area.
“We will force reblocking. It has to be be forced because tomorrow another fire in this community might happen and, just like the last time, all 120 shacks will burn to the ground.
Even if we would want to assist with emergency fire kits, we would not be able to do so,” Kubayi said.
She said the long-term plan was that residents would be relocated by the City, but while that had not happened, reblocking needed to be done.
“This situation is concerning and we are pleading that residents co-operate with our teams.
It also can’t be that people build shacks and rent them out while they are staying elsewhere in their brick houses.
They are benefiting from the poor in a land that doesn’t belong to them. It is time we also engage with law enforcement agencies about this matter,” she said.
Community activist Noxolo Tshemese said the land was small, with many shacks, resulting in overcrowding and reblocking impossibilities.
Booi said there was a development under way that would alleviate overcrowding in the area. “A total of 1 500 households will be relocated to the development.
“This is part of a multiphased-integrated implementation approach, aimed at ensuring that residents are accommodated in a safe, properly-serviced human settlement.”
In Khayelitsha, where 192 residents were displaced, people were disgruntled.
Town Two resident, Xoliswa Mase, said: “I’m shocked and unhappy. I seriously don’t know why these officials came here, because they left us in the same situation they found us.
They just argued alone and promised to assist us to get our identity documents.
“They didn’t ask where we have been sleeping, and we didn’t hear anything about relocation. I have been here since 1995. Our government just doesn’t care about us.”
Residents said they had no choice but to rebuild in the area as there was no clear way forward for them.
While in Philippi, Kubayi said she would engage with Home Affairs Minister Motsoaledi to waver costs for fire victims in all areas as residents pleaded with her to intervene since they lost birth certificates and ID’s.
Cape Times