Sadly, the Plot 323 tent dwellers in Wilgespruit will definitely spend another Christmas without proper roofs over their heads.
However, the New Year seems to be promising for the displaced residents, as a low-cost temporary housing plan is on the cards.
The Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Economic Development and Ward 97 councillor, Leah Knott, shed some light on the budget allocation for this housing plan. “The budget for the temporary emergency accommodation [will come] from the Province. The application has been submitted to them,” she confirmed.
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“I am waiting on confirmation from the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) Housing [department] that the town planning application for Haylon Hills (the earmarked plot) has been submitted. They met to discuss it on 20 November and are in the process of appointing a consultant,” Knott said, although she was unable to provide a timeline.
Haylon Hills is a plot bordering Laser Park in Honeydew. The plot is divided into two Holdings, numbered five and six respectively. “Holding five is zoned public open space, while six is zoned agricultural. This means that to place any structures on the properties will require the Holdings to be rezoned to residential land,” Knott explained.
She mentioned that only original evictees will benefit from the project. “We did an audit with Housing when the residents were first placed in the tents,” she said.
The dwellers were displaced in March 2016 after they were evicted from a neighbouring property by the Red Ants. Subsequent to that they were provided with tents by the Gauteng Provincial Government on provincial land (Plot 323) and assisted with services by the City of Johannesburg.
The residents appealed and eventually resorted to protests after complaining about the speed at which the relocation plan was taking place. During 2017, several high-profile politicians and non-profit organisations reached out to the dwellers by donating necessities while CoJ fought tooth and nail to get Provincial Government to allocate a budget in order to spearhead the housing programme.
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