Angry informal settlement residents will not move

A WEEK after Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula visited Siyahlala informal settlement residents and said vacant land had been found for them to move to by November, no further details have been forthcoming from his office.

Mbalula's acting spokesperson Lawrence Venkile did not respond to multiple questions on the newly identified land. During a visit to Langa last Friday, to assess progress in bringing back the Central Line, Mbalula had engaged with community leaders on the planned relocation of the informal settlements on the rail infrastructure.

Mbalula told residents that his department has identified vacant land which they will move to by November.

Residents whose homes are built on railway tracks have meanwhile said they will not move from the area without being shown the newly identified land.

Siyahlala informal settlement committee chairperson, Mxoleleni Ngwetyana said residents will only move out when the City and the national government can show them the land identified.

“Mbalula visited our area last Friday and he made all these promises that his department had identified a piece of land but when we questioned him about the whereabouts of land he mumbled.

“One thing he must know is that we are not moving from this area without seeing the identified land, we have to view the site so that we can be satisfied. He told us that we will be moving in November.

“What puzzled us as the leadership of this area was the absence of City of Cape Town representatives during Mbalula's visit and I believe that Mbalula can not identify land without working with the City and Prasa,” said Ngwetyana.