The current administration in the City of Tshwane – a coalition with ActionSA, the ANC and the EFF as the main players – wants to adopt a watertight policy to deal with 17 illegal townships before the municipal elections in November.
The policy, according to MMC for human settlements and housing Alderman Aaron Maluleka, may go to council as early as July and is set to determine the principles for the formalisation of these townships, regardless of which party governs the metro after the elections. It must bind future administrations, he said.
The elections are expected to be highly contested in Tshwane.
Excited DA members recently posted results from a poll by the Social Research Foundation on social media, showing 45% support for their party, and only 42% for the ANC.
Kleinfontein meeting held amid resistance
Maluleka, together with deputy mayor and MMC for finance Eugene Modise, both of whom are members of the ANC, addressed a meeting of at least 100 residents from Kleinfontein, an exclusive Afrikaner settlement outside Pretoria.
Kleinfontein, like the other 16 townships, was developed without the required rezoning, without formal township establishment, no subdivision was carried out, and building plans were not approved by council.
Residents buy shares in the company Kleinfontein Aandeleblok rather than taking ownership of the individual plots allocated to them, and are therefore unable to obtain title deeds.
Kleinfontein currently boasts more than 600 well-built houses, an old-age home, a shopping centre, a school, a solar farm and a light industrial area.
Most of the other illegal townships, which are spread all over the city, consist of hundreds of quality and, in some cases, luxury homes.
In Kleinfontein, residents receive electricity from Eskom, water from boreholes, and use septic tanks. They take care of their own refuse, and, as in most of the 16 other townships, the road infrastructure is at a much lower standard than in typical formal developments.
The meeting with Kleinfontein residents was held at a venue outside the settlement, following fierce efforts to prevent it from taking place there.
It was the only remaining meeting in a series of public consultations the city has held in all 17 townships in preparation for the adoption of the new policy.
Apart from two previous meetings that were cancelled at the last minute due to resistance from Kleinfontein management, their attorney, Hurter Spies, wrote letters to the council urging it to cancel the latest meeting.
Hurter Spies is the law firm representing Freedom Front Plus (FF+) mayoral candidate in Tshwane, Willie Spies.
The party has been fiercely protective of Kleinfontein.
Awie Erasmus, FF+ chair of the portfolio for finance under the previous multi-party coalition (which included the DA) lived in the township at the time.
Kleinfontein management also wrote to residents to discourage them from attending the meeting, and according to Modise, FF+ caucus leader Grandi Theunissen visited him in an attempt to have the meeting cancelled.
Eventually, Lex Middelberg, councillor for the Republican Conference of Tshwane, arranged the meeting to be held at a nearby wedding venue.
It took place against the background of deep divisions between Kleinfontein management and a growing number of residents who accuse the management of deliberately delaying formalisation, which has been on the agenda since 2011.
City promises legalisation, not demolition of homes
Both Modise and Maluleka told residents that the City of Tshwane does not want to demolish homes in Kleinfontein or in any of the other illegal townships.
Instead, the city aims to work with communities to legalise the developments and issue title deeds.
“We want to help you. We want to restore your dignity,” Maluleka said.
He added that it would be easy for the city to approach the courts for eviction and demolition orders, but that is not what it wants to do.
“We want to hear how we can help legalise Kleinfontein. Your home is your investment for your children.”
Albert Smit, one of the residents, cautioned that an obligation by council to upgrade services in Kleinfontein to the required level would put formalisation out of financial reach for the community.
Maluleka agreed, saying the council wants to introduce an alternative service model for communities like Kleinfontein that are outside the urban edge. This could mean that gravel or dirt roads may be deemed acceptable, provided residents are happy with that.
Wim van den Bosch, who owns a neighbouring smallholding, said the large-scale extraction of water for the community is weakening his boreholes and raised concerns about groundwater contamination due to the large number of septic tanks.
Maluleka said the city could deploy experts to Kleinfontein at no cost to investigate alternative water sources and similar issues.
Enforcement warnings, potential expropriation
Maluleka and Modise avoided discussing the current legal dispute between the metro and Kleinfontein management, despite specific technical questions from Kleinfontein board chair Rian Genis, who said he attended the meeting “in my personal capacity”.
Responding to concerns that opposition from management could derail the process, Maluleka said that if necessary, the city could expropriate Kleinfontein on behalf of the community and then legalise it.
Modise further warned that any continued “property sales” and building activity in Kleinfontein would be seen as clear contraventions, and that the buildings would be demolished.
Middelberg pointed out that the cash-strapped council is forfeiting up to R3 billion annually in rates from the 17 illegal townships, while Modise said a balance must be found that is fair to all residents of Tshwane.
This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
