Cape Town - Longtime residents of the Kraal, an informal settlement at the top of Hout Street, say the City of Cape Town’s offer of formal housing in Pelican Park will do little to improve the quality of their lives.
Many residents, some of whom have been living in Wash House Quarry for 20 years, said on Tuesday they would prefer to remain in the city, close to work opportunities and their children’s schools.
The city’s offer has been met with mixed reactions.
A younger resident, who was born in the quarry, said she was “very excited” about the chance to live in a house with running water and electricity.
When the Cape Argus visited the site on Tuesday, city law enforcement officers were dismantling some of the 18-odd illegal structures.
As council workers loaded a truck with old mattresses and pieces of wooden structures, a handful of permanent residents sat nearby, unperturbed by the eviction of their neighbours.
The residents, who refused to give their names, said they weren’t bothered by the “transient” informal dwellers who set up temporary housing on their doorstep. “They don’t bother us, so why should we bother them?”
Ward councillor Dave Bryant said it would be easier to deal with the illegal structures once the permanent residents had been relocated.
Officials from the city’s housing department were due to meet residents last week about the offer of fixed housing in Pelican Park, but none of the families were present at the meeting.
The Bo-Kaap Civic Association explained later that residents wanted more information about the move before they agreed to go.
But Bryant said on Tuesday that while he understood their misgivings, the reluctance of some to move while others wanted a fresh start was “frustrating for everyone”.
“This is groundbreaking because in the past it was always an offer of a temporary relocation.” But, the city could not force residents to move to Pelican Park, a development that fronts on to the False Bay Ecology Park.
“It is their choice if they want to take the offer.”
Another meeting, with city housing officials and residents, has been scheduled for next week.
The Kraal has been a source of concern for several years, with criminals using it as thoroughfare from the Bo-Kaap to Strand Street. Bryant said the city would improve lighting in the area.
Despite the Kraal’s reputation as being unsafe, many residents said they lived without fear.
A man who said he had raised his children and grandchildren in the Kraal, said people “on that side” were being killed in gang wars.