By Vusumuzi ka Nzapheza
Crossroads residents have appealed to Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu to use Red Ants, security guards from Gauteng reputed to be fearless, to evict beneficiaries of the N2 Gateway housing development who make extra money by renting their shacks in Boys Town.
Lusaka informal settlement resident Sindiswa Godongwana asked the minister to obtain court interdicts against these beneficiaries.
Sisulu was at an imbizo at the Crossroads sports complex on Sunday to hear details of the plight of Cape Flats people who are using the bucket system and waiting for formal homes.
Godongwana was cheered when she claimed officials responsible for N2 Gateway brought relatives from the Eastern Cape to occupy the flats at the expense of people who had been waiting for years.
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She said spaces in Lusaka were being sold for R130 and R570. "There is so much corruption in the way people are allocated houses and space, we no longer trust our leaders."
Thubelisha, appointed by the department of housing to be the project manager for N2 Gateway, was criticised for not addressing people's needs.
The development entails the building of 25 000 permanent homes, as well as schools, sports complexes and other facilities.
Thulani Katyeni, of Boys Town, said he was tired of living in his leaky shack. "We were promised flats, but we see even children born in 1984 getting houses before some of us who have been waiting for more than 12 years."
Sisulu acknowledged that the N2 Gateway rents were beyond the means of most people waiting for homes.
Mncedisi Twalo, chairperson of the Gugulethu Backyard Dwellers, warned that people were losing patience.
He said only a third of the N2 Gateway units were being allocated to people renting lowly accommodation in home-owners' backyards, despite some of them having lived in such shacks in Gugulethu for more than 30 years.
Sisulu acknowledged there had been scant consultation with the community since work had begun on the Gateway project. She said it would go ahead as planned because the national government had allocated money for it. Ministry officials would be sent to fast-track the development.
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This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Times on October 30, 2006
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