Blitz on illegal Chats businesses

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Published Oct 29, 2014

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Durban - The eThekwini Municipality has pledged to carry out a “blitz” on illegal businesses in Chatsworth after concerns were raised by residents.

It said on Tuesday an area-based manager would also be appointed as a link between the community and relevant departments to help address issues speedily.

A city delegation met civic bodies and residents’ associations at the Chatsworth Youth Centre to provide feedback on issues previously raised about service delivery.

But the meeting focused on illegal businesses in residential areas, a problem reported in the Daily News on Monday.

City manager Sibusiso Sithole acknowledged that the issue was town planning.

He said the problems were not unique to Chatsworth but experienced throughout the municipality.

“Representatives from each department conducted an inspection in loco of the areas deemed problematic. The way forward is to appoint someone as an area-based manager. This person would be the link between the community and officials from various municipal departments,” Sithole said.

He said a “public participative unit” would also be formed and its task would be to hold bi-monthly meetings and give feedback to the community.

The manager and unit would work hand-in-hand to also speed up service delivery problems, Sithole said

“We have arrived in Chatsworth. We will develop a sustainable system and implement measures where we can review the work.”

The meeting also discussed the appeal by the Westcliff Action Committee against the municipality’s decision in June to rezone a tract of land on Florence Nightingale Drive for commercial shopping.

The Daily News reported on Monday that the Oxford supermarket chain planned to build a “village” on a 48 000m2 plot on a main arterial road into the area.

While the appeal will be heard next week, Oxford boss Brett Latimer justified the massive project, saying in a previous interview that his company was making it convenient for their customers who travelled to their Bluff branch.

He said Oxford planned to employ about 1 000 people and inject close to R200 million into the project.

Addressing the meeting, the head of the municipality’s development planning, environment and management unit, Musa Mbhele, said the public was not being excluded from planning.

“We have various platforms where people can give their views and suggestions. The Oxford application for rezoning was approved but the re-zoning is on appeal.”

Law

Mbhele said approval of rezoning was done in accordance with the law.

“Some of the applicants make a strong case and if we say no they can take us to court.

“We also reject many applications. We do it because it is one of the statutes of law. We are not ‘approval happy’.”

“It is a very difficult process. It’s a balancing act. We encourage the informal economy to provide jobs and developments that will provide employment.”

Responding to complaints of illegal businesses operating in Chatsworth, Mbhele said: “We will gather the relevant authorities and law enforcement to carry out a comprehensive blitz on businesses that don’t have a relevant licence. We do this in city centre as well.”

He asked residents to bear with the municipality, saying Chatsworth was not being neglected.

Westcliff Action Committee chairman, Saren Padayachee, said since 2005 businesses had been eroding municipal space and to date nothing had been done.

“Why are the bylaws not being followed? The city manager must look into the problem that is creating traffic congestion and depriving residents of a peaceful neighbourhood.”

In an earlier interview, eThekwini Municipality’s head of communications, Tozi Mthethwa, said they were aware of the problem.

She said over the past year the municipality had successfully prosecuted 122 cases of unauthorised land use in the city and suburbs.

“If a business is opened in a residential zoned street, we urge residents to bring this to the attention of the metro police or their ward councillors.”

Daily News

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