Hopes rise for housing in ward 97
Slow progress is being made to assign land for housing for the evicted families on Plot 323.
Region C Housing has made some important progress with regard to the emergency housing for the people residing on Plot 323.
A new Joburg Property Company (JPC) Regional Head was appointed and Housing met with the JPC on 8 August to discuss land audits and possible sites.
Ward 97 councillor and Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Development, Leah Knott, is still awaiting feedback on the land audits, which will determine if land needs rezoning. Going forward, a professional team and engineer will be appointed by the JPC to do the detailed design and related work for a township plan.
She explained that a township can take two or more years to be established; however, she hopes the project will be fast-tracked due to the dire need for housing.
A new Executive Director of Housing has also been appointed for the City. He will be briefed by Regional Housing early in August on this matter. Once the director have given his input and concerns, the matter will be put through in order to get approval from the Mayoral Committee.
The current challenge on Plot 323 is the availability of services, which Knott is working with disaster management to provide. “I continue to maintain contact with various entities to service the people on the plot in terms of refuse removal, water and sanitation services, and safety,” she said.
A number of people were moved to Plot 323 after the Red Ants evicted them from a property on Magnum Road, Kimbult Agricultural Holdings, in March. This was meant to be a temporary, emergency solution but no other solution has been found to date. Residents around Plot 323 expressed concern that they would now have an informal settlement on their doorstep, but Knott said the evicted families have only erected small structures to protect their belongings, otherwise there has been no sign of permanent structures being built. The real issue is that there are no emergency housing facilities in Region C to cater for displaced persons.
Knott also attended a meeting with Home Affairs on 4 August to discuss assisting the evicted persons to obtain their missing documentation. “The fact that we already have a register will speed up this process immensely. Gauteng Province will need to be approached for funding in this respect but we do have a prior commitment from Provincial Disaster Management for the provision of emergency housing when required,” Knott added.
She also received correspondence in July from Dr Elias Sithole, on behalf of MEC Mashatile (Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements), confirming that they support the City of Johannesburg in this matter and await a sustainable solution from Housing in order for the matter to proceed.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at northsider@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
