Cape Town - “The city is going to burn”.
This is the caution from irate Plumstead and Wynberg residents who say that the City of Cape Town is ignoring their concerns about the proposed MyCiTi route through the area.
At a public meeting on Tuesday night, Clive Muller of the South Road Residents’ Association said: “We are not against the bus rapid transit (BRT), but why is the city so reluctant to come to the table and talk to the community? We are in the dark but we cannot allow them to go ahead with this.”
Muller echoed the sentiments expressed by many at the meeting that “someone” was going to benefit financially from the project, which the city has estimated will require an investment of at least R4 billion.
“To sacrifice two established road communities with a road scheme from the dark days - that is what we are up in arms about. Once the city has bulldozed these houses, there won’t be time for ‘I told you so’s’.”
Representatives of the taxi industry in Wynberg as well as surrounding areas said they would also be affected by the MyCiTi route.
Council will on Wednesday consider recommendations to demolish three houses in Plumstead to make way for the proposed MyCiTi route - more than a month after council workers started dismantling the structures.
Those who attended Tuesday night’s meeting at Church-on-Main in Wynberg agreed that residents would need to take legal action to stop the council from demolishing houses and moving forward with the MyCiTi transport plan without doing a proper feasibility study.
Kristina Davidson, of the Wynberg Residents’ and Ratepayers’ Association, said the alternative routes would integrate with existing transport modes and roads and would not require the demolition of houses.
“This is not just about Wynberg. We want to encourage all communities that will be affected (to get involved). We support bus rapid transport but it should not destroy suburbs. The city’s lack of interaction makes it seem as if they want to bulldoze their ideas, and they will do the same along the rest of the route.”
One resident already pledged R2 000 towards
the group’s legal fees, and has urged others to do the same.
“We are consulting with lawyers. We will be keeping up the pressure,” said Davidson.
The city made a surprise announcement on Tuesday that eight of the 26 families who this week will be served with termination of lease notice would be offered alternative council housing in Wynberg, Lakeside and Grassy Park.
But the City of Cape Town’s eleventh-hour reprieve does not offer a long-term solution, as tenants have been cautioned that some of these council-owned properties are also located in road reserves or schemes.
“Those tenants who would like to make use of the opportunity should therefore also regard this as a temporary home until such time as the scheme is implemented,” said deputy mayor Ian Neilson.
The properties are in Wynberg, Lakeside and Grassy Park.
The olive branch has outraged the residents who have been fighting for several months to get a moratorium on the evictions, as well as a more consultative participation process about the city’s plans for the Lansdowne/Wetton Road corridor.
In a statement, Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for Transport for Cape Town, said the 26 houses were specifically acquired by the city so that they could be demolished when the planned road was built. He said the houses fell within the road reserve that was being used for the MyCiTi trunk route that will use the South Road scheme to connect with the Wynberg CBD. Once rolled out, this Phase 2 of the MyCiTi service would benefit about 1.4 million residents from the metro south-east, he said.
The new South Road is not a widening of the existing road but a four-lane, trunk road that will go from south of Constantia Road down Waterbury Road and over the railway line.
It will then run parallel to the existing South Road and run into Ottery Road, said Davidson.
This would effectively divide Plumstead from Wynberg.
“It will divide communities,” said Davidson.
Cape Argus