Pretoria - Thousands of livid residents of Olievenhoutbosch on Monday took to the streets to voice their anger over the allocation process of the newly built RDP houses in their area.
They threw debris on to the road and burnt tyres, calling on Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa to give them answers about the “sneaky allocation process of RDP houses in Extension 27”.
All entrances leading into the area were barricaded with boulders, blocking the R55 and forcing motorists to use alternative routes.
The protest is centred around the allocation of about 5 000 RDP houses, with many residents claiming that people from outside their community have been given keys.
The City of Tshwane had previously said they would move some of the Mooiplaas residents and build RDP housing for them in Extension 27.
“We were here first. We are waiting for houses,”an angry local resident told the Pretoria News.
“The heart of the matter is that people are unhappy that others move to their area and will be receiving houses before they do,” he added.
It’s believed that the residents started their protest around 2am on Monday to highlight their frustrations. Police used rubber bullets to disperse the crowd after the protest action turned violent and some of the protesters started looting foreigners' tuckshops.
Kenneth Masha, of the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) in the area and a resident of Olievenhoutbosch, said that in 2012 former Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane promised them the land.
“The City of Tshwane is responsible for the relocation process of the people into the RDP houses in Extension 27. And instead of taking residents from Olievenhoutbosch as promised, they opted to take residents of Mooiplaas, which we find contradictory,” said Masha.
Another dissatisfied community member, who asked to remain anonymous, said they were tired of constantly being neglected. “We spoke to everyone in the community, including our leaders in the Tshwane council, but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears.”
Residents handed over a memorandum to MMC of community safety and leader of council business Terrence Mashego, who made a brief appearance at the protest scene surrounded by security personnel and police.
The memorandum stated that “Choba squatter camp should be the first to be relocated to Extension 27, followed by Camp 1 and then Camp 2.”
“We finally demand that since the municipality has breached the agreement, it should buy land for residents in Mooiplaas,” said Masha.
Residents gave Ramokgopa seven days to respond to their demands or else they would be forced to march to his Centurion offices “and shut them down”.
Mayoral spokesman Blessing Manale said the City of Tshwane regrets its plans to relocate Mooiplaats residents to a new permanent home in Olievenhoutbosch Extensions 27 and 42, as scheduled.
Manale said the decision to relocate the Mooiplaats informal settlement is informed by the following compelling reasons: the area is privately owned, it is dolomitic and the area is close to a privately owned landfill site. At 6pm today, the mayor will hold another meeting in Olievenhoutbosch.
Pretoria News
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