Diamond Fields Advertiser

City residents infuriated over illegal shacks

INFURIATED residents of Ward 20 in West End have lashed out at alleged illegal shanties that were being erected close to their homes.

Homeowners said that none of the ward members were consulted about the shanties in the area.

They said they had been living peacefully with the residents of Marikana, but that the additional shacks can have a negative impact on their area and properties.

“On August 8 we saw that the piece of land where the shanties were built, was being scraped and cleaned. The next day we saw people building the shanties. We went to the municipali­ty and informed them about what was happening. We were told by the Town Planning Unit of the Sol Plaatje Municipali­ty that the plot of land was allocated for middle-class housing and that the shack owners would have to move their shanties.

“Although representa­tives from the unit visited the site, the owners of shacks simply continued building their shacks. We are afraid that these shacks will bring the value of our properties down. Also, where will the residents of the shacks get basic services such as water and electricit­y,” homeowners asked.

“There are also no sewerage lines on the plot, while this type of set-up also brings an element of criminalit­y. Some of the residents in this ward are pensioners and want to enjoy their golden years. They cannot now be expected to install extra security measures because of this problem.”

Community members said they had several meetings with town planning officials from the municipali­ty who promised that the shacks would be removed.

“However, nothing has been done since. Our ward councillor has also invested a lot of energy and time in trying to resolve the matter, but her pleas were also ignored.”

Another homeowner said that one of the shacks is practicall­y inside her yard.

“The one shack is built so close to my yard that I can actually walk into it when I walk out of my house. The other problem is that the shack is built on top of the stormwater drain, this is despite the fact that officials from town planning are aware of this and agreed that the shack cannot be constructe­d on that spot. We are now left to fight this matter ourselves.”

Sol Plaatje municipal spokespers­on Thabo Mothibi said the municipali­ty is aware of the matter and will be meeting with the affected community today.

“We are clearing an area in Marikana for three shacks. The complaints were escalated to our Town Planning and Housing units when the shacks were erected earlier this month. We needed to intervene to avert encroachme­nt into an existing residentia­l area,” Mothibi said.