Cape Town - City of Cape Town Sub-Council 17 chairperson and Mitchells Plain councillor Elton Jansen has hit back at Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi for comments she made regarding the relocation of the Central Line occupants.
Kubayi, while addressing stakeholders of the Central Line relocations, said the City was deliberately sabotaging efforts to rehome thousands of families who had settled on Prasa land and infrastructure, hampering the rail agency group’s efforts to restore train services on one of its major corridors, the Central Line.
One of the ways Kubayi said the City was sabotaging her department’s efforts was by supporting and essentially funding “Not in my name campaigns” in formal communities, using some Cape Town communities like Mitchells Plain to refuse the relocation of Central Line occupants into their area.
Commenting on Kubayi’s sentiments, Jansen said the minister’s comments were far from the truth.
Jansen, who admitted to leading the “Not in my neighbourhood campaign”, said the initiative originally intended to mobilise the community and make them aware of and become involved in engagement processes.
“Yes, I spearheaded this campaign with other councillors from all political parties in Mitchells Plain to demonstrate that we all were against the relocation of the illegal occupants on the central line.”
Jansen revealed that the campaign was particularly focused on communicating disapproval of the possible use of the Philippi wedge area as the temporary relocation area.
The Philippi wedge land was bought by the Housing Development Agency (HDA) to relocate more than 1200 households in Langa.
According to the Department of Human Settlements, the HDA applied for rezoning the area on August 7 and expected the process to be concluded by March 2024.
“There (are) already existing informal settlements here with no services. Creating a new informal settlement with services will create tension with the existing settlements, and we cannot afford Jakes Gerwel to be blocked because of unhappy informal settlement dwellers,” Jansen said.
“The area has no schools, recreation facilities and/or amenities. Crime is at an all-time high with very little to no SAPS visibility.
“Vandalism and illegal connections are ongoing, affecting the Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA). Relocating more people to the wedge to an informal settlement jeopardises the agricultural business in the PHA, and there are so many existing backyard dwellers in Mitchells Plain.”
Jansen said rewarding people who illegally invaded the central line was sending a message that the national government rewarded people who illegally invaded land.
“We need the Central Line to be 100% functional, but it cannot be done at the expense of the residents of Mitchells Plain and dumping people in no man’s land,” he said.