Sexwale to seek Lenasia solution

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale. File Photo: Sizwe Ndingane

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale. File Photo: Sizwe Ndingane

Published Nov 22, 2012

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Cape Town - Cabinet has mandated Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale to urgently interact with the Gauteng provincial government to find an amicable solution to address the situation in Lenasia.

“Cabinet [at its regular fortnightly meeting on Wednesday] said that the minister must work with the government of Gauteng,” Women, Children, and People with Disabilities Minister Lulu Xingwana said on Thursday.

“Cabinet was also sympathetic to the people who have lost their property there, some of them probably their lifetime savings.

“But Cabinet then said the minister, with the government of Gauteng, must work on that issue and look at alternatives, but ensure that all that has to be done must be done within the law,” she said.

The Gauteng housing department has started demolishing houses built on illegally sold land in Lenasia.

The demolitions began on November 8 and 9. The housing department said the land the houses were built on was meant for government housing.

About 50 houses were initially destroyed and there were plans to knock down another 113.

The plots on which the houses were built were apparently fraudulently sold for amounts ranging from R2500 to R95 000. The buyers were given forged deeds of sale bearing the department's logo.

Sapa

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