NEWS that Emfuleni Local Municipality is set to demolish some 200 illegally-built houses in the Ironsyde/Debonair Park area is a sad indicator of how widespread the problem of illegal land-grabs in the province is, especially in the wake of the Lenasia demolitions.
The news also confirms the need for the government to act decisively on those who continue to build illegally on state-owned land so that the behaviour is discouraged among communities in Gauteng.
It is clear that allowing illegal buildings not only transgresses property rights, but also throws the province’s planning into disarray and promotes criminal syndicates.
While some have argued that the government should have been more humane in handling the matter in Lenasia, they conveniently forget that this issue has been going on for more than six years.
As a caring government, we have been at pains to interact and engage with the affected parties to find an amicable solution to the matter, albeit with little co-operation from affected parties.
This is despite the government being granted permission to demolish the illegally built houses in September last year.
Also, during planning for the demolitions, we consciously identified stands that had perimeter walls and houses that were unoccupied.
It is our understanding that many moved into the vacant houses overnight after hearing news of the first demolitions. We are not so inhuman that we demolish occupied houses with families inside, especially women and children.
We did not take the decision lightly and that is why we took more than a year before enforcing the court order.
Within that year, several attempts at mediation were explored, but these also failed.
We preferred it if those affected could demolish the structures themselves or approach us to find an amicable solution. After several calls for engagement with the affected residents, fewer than 15 of the more than 150 affected households attended meetings.
At the meetings it was found that only three families qualified for government support and were on our housing waiting list.
The government cannot discourage those who would like to build their own houses. The problem is when people build on illegally-acquired land.
That Gauteng is home to 13 million people – the largest population in the country – while it is the smallest province poses many challenges for us as the government.
This affects planning and service delivery. We cannot, therefore, allow that very limited space to be usurped by criminal syndicates while deserving, law-abiding citizens wait patiently on housing queues.
One thing that we cannot do is sit idly by and allow criminal elements and syndicates to paralyse the government. We must always uphold the rule of law.
If something seems too good to be true, people need to double check, especially when making life investments such as building a house.
Matlakala Motloung, head of communication, Gauteng Provincial Government