Pretoria - Gauteng co-operative governance and traditional affairs and human settlements MEC Paul Mashatile has called on residents of Mooiplaas in Tshwane to allow the building of houses to start in their community.
Some residents were allocated houses in the nearby Olievenhoutbosch, but the residents of that area were against the allocation of houses in their community to "beneficiaries from outside".
“About 750 people from Mooiplaas had qualified to go to Olievenhoutbosch, but now people of Olievenhoutbosch say they do not want people of Mooiplaas because every time we allocate we bring people from this area,” he said.
Government would this week return to Olievenhoutbosch to negotiate for the 750 people, but at the same time the development had to start in Mooiplaas. The government had bought land worth R76 million where the development for the people of Mooiplaas would be situated, Mashatile said.
City of Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga said government had proposed a win-win situation for both communities, but the community of Olievenhoutbosch had threatened a "blood bath".
“As a responsible government and as the number one citizen of Tshwane, I cannot allow a situation where violence becomes the order of the day,” he said.
Plans for the area were ready and it was exciting, because not only a residential area was planned for the community, but also factories, as the developer already had people who wanted to invest in the area, Msimanga said.