Cape Town - Mayor Patricia de Lille has committed to hand over title deeds to residents living in the 41 000 city-owned rental stock after residents were “dumped” on the Cape Flats during apartheid.
“I campaigned in 2011 to become the mayor by saying we are going to upgrade all of the flats and clean them, make them livable then transfer them to the communities, because I really feel that they have paid over and over for the value of the flats,” De Lille said. The city council recently handed over 4 000 title deeds.
De Lille said a tender to manage the process of issuing title deeds was put out to cut through the “red tape” so that an announcement could be made before December - ahead of the local elections.
This was one of many ambitious plans the mayor announced as the city planned to spend over R621.2 million to upgrade the Cape Flats. The city council has invested R18m into the safety and stabilisation in Hanover Park in two years.
The interventions included the ceasefire training programme, shot spotter technology, CCTV cameras and school resource programmes to tackle gangsterism in the highly volatile area.
“We also conducted an outreach programme for over 400 youth at risk and took them through a four- to six-month rehabilitation programme in order to protect them from the lure of gangsterism.”
The city council spent R200 000 on 30 start-up businesses and provided small business training for 23 people.
A further R60m was also spent on the upgrading of Surran Park, Hanover Park Town Centre, canal cleaning, concrete roads, rental units and local parks.
The Hanover Park Steering Committee, headed by Rieduwaan Anthony, asked the city council to invest in various interventions such as workshops on anti-gang recruitment programmes, education and outreach programmes for gangsters, the construction of a business hub, safer housing, prostitution and child trafficking workshops among others.
Anthony and ward councillor Antonio van der Rheede admitted that there had been a breakdown in communication between some community forums but they were building a better community.
“We are saying crime is an issue but no-one wants to own it. The crime stats are not a true reflection of the crime, people do not report it. It is difficult and it will take us some time,” Van der Rheede said.
Cape Argus