Question NW625 to the Minister of Human Settlements
04 May 2016 - NW625
Mokause, Ms MO to ask the Minister of Human Settlements
In view of a certain person’s (name and details furnished) house that was demolished by the Kwadukuza Municipality in order for the specified municipality to build a community hall, whereupon the specified person was evicted, without explanation, from a house that was allocated by her department to the said person, whom is now left homeless, (a) why is the specified municipality abolishing houses without providing alternative accommodation when so many persons do not have decent houses and (b) when will her department allocate a new house to the specified person?
Reply:
I am particularly concerned about this matter. I would encourage the Honourable member to provide me with any information that will assist in resolving this matter. As public representatives, our first instinct should be the eagerness to assist in situations such as these. In essence, we need to find a way to assist the complainant to register for a BNG house.
Be that as it may, I have been advised that the case referred to by the Honourable member relates to the Etete Area, in Ward 7 in KwaDukuza. The Municipality has confirmed that the only structure it demolished in 2006 was an abandoned house on the land that the municipality acquired from the Palm Lakes Estate. The house was built with mud and was unoccupied for years. The house was a den of criminal activity and the community demanded both the municipality and SAPS to act against people who were using the dilapidated house for various criminal acts. The property was on land owned by the municipality.
Further, eighteen (18) months after the demolition had been completed, the complainant claimed that the land the house was built on belonged to the complainant’s father. The complainant was informed that the land in question was never owned by the complainant’s late father but was owned by the owners/developers of Palm Lakes Estates, which the municipality acquired for housing and social facilities.
The complainant has not, according to the records of the Municipality, applied for the subsidised housing in the area called Etete, in which the municipality over the years has been working to eradicate informal settlements with funding from the Department of Human Settlements. The municipality is currently working on the implementation of the last phase of the project, which is known as Phase 4. It appears that the same complainant is not part of the beneficiaries registered for this project.