Cape Town - Former minister of Rural Development and Land Reform Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, who was ordered by the court to submit a detailed plan for the development of District Six by last week, has instead submitted papers saying she won’t be able to do so before August.
Nkoana-Mashabane, who was
minister at the time of the court order until the Cabinet was dissolved last week after the swearing-in of Cyril Ramaphosa as president, said a final “holistic plan” was subject to discussions between interested parties as objections were received on the draft holistic plan.
“The draft holistic plan remains a working document. As such, the department cannot - until this process is completed (at the very least) -
finalise and present an (implementation) plan to the court, as envisaged in the order of this court granted on November 26,last year.”
The Cape Argus reported this month that plans to accommodate the rest of the District Six land claimants had hit another snag due to a stalemate between CPUT and various government departments over the transfer of land.
A document pointing out that the houses in Phase 3 of the development for about 108 claimants won’t be handed over until title deeds can be issued is currently being discussed by the Human Settlements Department and the City of Cape Town.
But Mashabane said some
progress had been made. “As a result of engagements with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, Human Settlements, Public Works, Higher Education and Training (and CPUT), a memorandum of understanding has been signed dealing with land use rights. It will be published in the Government Gazette soon,” she said. Mashabane also stressed that her department still had no money other than the amount previously indicated.
“I note, as stated previously, that the department is taking steps
to secure a once-off amount
of R351million (as part of a potential private partnership) for the development of the remaining restitution units. This amount is insufficient to cover the redevelopment costs of the remaining units to be allocated to the verified claimants, which on 2018 estimates was about R2.4 billion. At present, no further funding has been secured,” she said.
Former Minister for Rural Development and Land Affairs, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. Picture: Brendan Magaar/African News Agency (ANA)
Her new report, submitted on Monday, forms part of a court order involving her department along with hundreds of land claimants. The state has to come up with a “holistic plan” of how it will redevelop District Six and return all the claimants, who’ve waited over 20 years for restitution.
When Mashabane appeared in the Western Cape High Court earlier this month, the court criticised her for not coming up with concrete plans for delivering restitution to District Six claimants. Mashabane filed a plan back in April that was criticised by the District Six working committee. She said in her affidavit that they had received around 200 comments and objections on the draft holistic plan from members of the Reference Group,
“The draft holistic plan is subject to further consultations with, among others, the reference group and the working committee,” she said.
@MarvinCharles17