A property with a fence around it in Kameeldrift. Tshwane MMC for Human Settlements Ofentse Madzebatela said he had noted that a particular political party is promising the residents from Portion 174 and 175 of Kameeldrift 298-JR the stands at Portion 178 and 179 of Kameeldrift 298-JR. Picture: File
Pretoria - Tshwane MMC for Human Settlements Ofentse Madzebatela has expressed concern over rapid land invasions in the municipality, saying it often translated into urban management and developmental challenges.
“After invading land, the illegal occupiers require services that they acquire illegally, in most cases, at the expense of the City and law-abiding citizens,” he said.
Land invasion made planning and development mandates extremely difficult and impacted negatively on the environment.
“As soon as land is invaded, the occupiers are counted as a backlog to the city, notwithstanding other residents who have been waiting on the National Housing Needs Register since 1998, other informal settlements established in 1996, and other people who are still renting backyard rooms and those living in old hostels,” he said.
He urged residents to note that the city’s approved budget could only attend to issues through the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and only for a period of 12 months.
“The invasion of land mostly occurs after the approval of the budget. It is therefore difficult to provide rudimentary services or even formalise all informal settlements due to limited funds, the capacity of our infrastructure and the scarcity of land,” said Madzebatela.
According to him, the prevention of land invasion was the only mechanism available to the city to plan, control and regulate development.
“The city will not achieve the prevention of land invasion alone without the support of law-abiding residents.
“We recently noted that a particular political party is promising the residents from Portion 174 and 175 of Kameeldrift 298-JR the stands at Portion 178 and 179 of Kameeldrift 298-JR. These residents are cautioned not to allow any political party to mislead them and end up frustrating the development that they have been waiting for a long time. It must be noted it is only the city that has the constitutional obligation to develop and provide services to residents.”
He said in terms of the progress report on Kameeldrift development, the city appointed a service provider in October 2019 for the township establishment and the approved general plan on the proposed township of Kameeldrift Ext 42 situated on Portion 178, 179, 1011, 1012, 1013, 1014, 1015 and 1016 of the farm Kameeldrift 298-JR.
Feasibility studies were completed, and the township establishment application was submitted in November 2020 and circulated for stakeholder comments, he said.
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