By relocating the so-called Plastic View informal settlement to a new plot alongside Garsfontein Road, east of the Woodlands Boulevard, the City of Tshwane will simply create another undesirable element for residents to put up with.
This is according to residents of the Pretoria east suburbs of Woodlands, Garsfontein, Moreleta Park and Mooikloof, who expressed concerns about the proposed relocation.
They were speaking during a public participation meeting on the environmental impact of the new development.
The City of Tshwane plans to relocate Plastic View residents, estimated to be almost 3 000, to a new development consisting of low-cost housing.
The consensus among those who attended the meeting, held at Featherwood Estate on Friday, was that moving the informal settlement would just create similar problems at the new base.
They grew agitated, saying they were not being given enough information to comment properly.
The city put the large property on which the informal settlement is located up for auction earlier this year.
However, it was prevented from selling it due to a last-minute high court interdict.
Lawyers for Human Rights, on behalf of residents from the informal settlement, successfully obtained the urgent order on March 23 against Tshwane to stop the auction.
In his ruling, Judge Legodi Phatudi found auctioning off the property without a plan to relocate people living there would cause them irreparable harm.
He agreed with residents that it would not be feasible to negotiate a relocation plan once the land had been sold.
A developer would want to take occupation to proceed with the development, which would interfere with occupancy by residents, said Judge Phatudi.
But residents from the areas near the new plot raised concerns over whether the development would be able to cater for all Plastic View dwellers.
They also wanted to know the type of housing that would be developed at the new site.
“We want to have all the relevant information before we can comment on anything moving forward.
“The residents from Plastic View can certainly not afford proper houses, so what exactly will be built on that land that could accommodate them?” said a resident at the meeting.
“What it now looks like to us is that the city is trying to do a last-minute rush job; it wants to move the people quickly in order to sell the current property,” he added.
The Plastic View land was the most expensive and biggest of the properties the city intended to sell at its inaugural auction in March.
Local councillor Lex Middelberg said there was a need for another meeting, with a more detailed plan on how the city intended to develop the area.
“From this gathering it is evident that people have concerns on whether a proper development plan is in place upon which they can decide,” he said.
Middelberg said another major concern was that the site for the proposed development was not nearly big enough. It could only cater for a quarter of the residents from the informal settlement.
“The underlying sentiment here is that the city is being driven by its need to sell land off on auction and that is being delayed by the court ruling requiring the relocation of the Plastic View residents,” said Middelberg.
Another concern was how the city would develop the area.
“The development was not planned for and therefore no budget was allocation by provincial or national government,” he said.
Tshwane mayoral spokesman Blessing Manale said they were confident they would make enough progress on the development in the coming two months, pending the completion of the environmental impact study.
“We are trying to create a transitional township rather than having people living in a crime-infested area like Plastic View,” he said.
Manale said the city was simply trying to find a way forward.
“We are sitting with a court order, Lawyers for Human Rights, and people who don’t want to move from Plastic View. All the relevant parties need to try to understand our position because we need the money.”
The sale of the current Plastic View property is part of the city’s ongoing land release programme, which involves properties not required for service delivery purposes.
Money raised through the sales will fund provision of housing and basic services.
Pretoria News Weekend