Cape Town - The future of the upgrade of Masiphumelele, an informal settlement near Noordhoek, hangs in the balance after the City of Cape Town missed its deadline to present residents in the area with a development plan.
Community leader Tshepo Moletsana said: “We believe we have been played by the City and they have repeatedly lied to us and not been forthcoming.”
Exactly a year ago, the City said it would provide a development plan for the area at the end of June.
Three months later, the community has not received any plans.
“They told us in a subcouncil meeting that the plan cannot be published because it’s not ready. Then they told us that a private consulting company is busy with it. I really think this is shocking and embarrassing.”
In December 2017, community leaders along with outgoing mayor Patricia de Lille signed a settlement agreement supervised by the office of the public protector.
At the heart of the settlement agreement is the Masiphumelele Spatial Development Framework (SDF).
Moletsana said the community was ready to take their frustrations to the streets.“We initially agreed not to protest, and wait until those plans are provided, but we are fed-up with this and we are going to have a community meeting where we will discuss a protest, and I can promise you this protest won’t be nice; we are going to shut things down.”
Mayoral committee member for transport and urban development Brett Herron said: “The SDF is a complex document and it took us longer than expected to finalise the final draft.
“I can, however, confirm that we are nearly ready to share the SDF with the leadership and residents of Masiphumelele and the surrounding communities.
“Invitations will be sent to leadership structures from Masiphumelele and the surrounding communities within the next few days, informing them of our intention to host meetings by the second week of October 2018, if all goes as planned.
“The first engagement will be with the Masiphumelele leadership. Thereafter, engagements with the leadership structures within the broader community will follow.”
@MavinCharles17