Overcrowding remains a big problem for Plastic View
|Published
Plastic View after a fire destroyed many homes leaving three dead. Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency (ANA)
Pretoria - The high and increasing numbers of undocumented foreign nationals, and ballooning households are the main issues plaguing the Plastic View informal settlement east of Pretoria.
Last month a wild fire engulfed the informal settlement, leaving three people dead and more than 500 homeless. About 100 shacks were destroyed in the blaze that broke out at night.
City of Tshwane chief of staff Jordan Griffiths said they suspected the latest blaze was a fire that started from a small gas stove and spread across the settlement.
“The emergency response teams responded very quickly and were able to keep the damage to a minimum,” he said.
Plastic View is notorious for fires. In July last year, two broke out within days of each other at night, leaving more than 400 residents without clothes, blankets and identification documents.
Recovery took residents months, as they were left to scramble to rebuild their lives after receiving donations from churches and non-governmental organisations.
The informal settlement has over the past two years been tipped to be developed into a township called Pretorius Park, but this has not yet materialised. Griffiths said people began setting up illegal structures in the area from as early as 2007.
“The government at the time failed to take control of the situation and the settlement soon ballooned to more than 8 000 households and has existed since.
“This is a significant challenge for the City. Many of the people living in the settlement are undocumented foreign nationals, which means the City’s intervention depends significantly on the Department of Home Affairs,” he said.
“The settlement houses a number of South Africans, but primarily has undocumented foreign nationals. In terms of assisting the families to recover from the recent destruction, the City has provided basic food and other forms of support to the residents.”
Griffiths said the City has deployed law enforcement officers to routinely patrol the area.
Nicki van Niekerk, from Munsieville, a predominately white informal settlement in Krugersdorp, said they had been touched by the reports of destruction and homelessness in Plastic View, and being poor themselves. had donated clothes and blankets.
Pretoria News