Cape Town - Mayor Patricia de Lille has recommended that tests be conducted on the land that has been at the centre of protests in Vrygrond.
At a meeting held with community leaders of Vrygrond on Tuesday night, De Lille said tests were required to establish whether a buffer zone could be extended. She said the test could take six to 12 months. This raised the ire of residents.
“As residents, we rejected this time frame because the residents want to live on that land immediately. They are sick of paying rent, because it’s expensive,” chairperson of the Vrygrond Development Forum Mike Kumalo said.
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“The meeting was not fruitful at all. They said we have two days to consider the proposal. The community is not very happy about this,” Kumalo said.
Community leader Daniel Nomavila added: “We are angry because we believe they keep changing their explanation and story and it’s making the community frustrated.”
During Tuesday’s meeting De Lille tabled a proposal for a possible extension of a buffer zone between the residential area and a landfill site - freeing up some land there would enable the City of Cape Town to pursue housing development there.
“The City would have to submit an application to the provincial government to get approval for such a request,” said the mayor’s spokesperson, Xolani Koyana.
“The City has made previous proposals to the leadership forum which they have rejected.”
Koyana said they were waiting for the leadership to report back to the rest of the community and come back to the mayor on the refined proposal.
This is the fourth time that De Lille has tried to reach consensus with residents of Vrygrond, who brought the area to a standstill in months of violent protests.
Protesters looted a bottle store in the area. Earlier this month they targeted a private property, setting three vehicles alight, and petrol-bombed a part of the New World Foundation building in Muizenberg. One man sustained minor burns.
At the centre of the protest is a piece of land known as Xakabantu, which residents have vowed to occupy. It is believed to belong to a neighbouring nature reserve.
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