The City of Tshwane’s leadership is pleased with the relative calm that has settled in Mahube Valley in Mamelodi East following violent clashes that ensued between formal home owners and neighboring informal settlement residents last week.
“The calm, though not likely to last without lasting solutions, provides a space for dialogue to begin between affected communities. To this effect, the city is organizing a steering committee meeting with representatives from both communities to deal with this issue. Arrangements are underway to have the meeting this week. The meeting will afford both sides to openly air their grievances in a non-violent manner and thus pave a way forward in dealing with this impasse.” said Housing and Human Settlements MMC, Mandla Nkomo.
The clash was sparked by an electricity outage which was caused by ongoing illegal connections by land invaders. The tensions escalated when a mini-substation was set alight and houses and shacks torched with petrol bombs from both directions. A fire engine was also damaged in the process.
Denouncing the sporadic land invasions, The Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Cllr Solly Msimanga, said the practices makes the municipality unable to implement its programme of action of providing sustainable housing and rudimentary services where needed most. “While the City acknowledges that the rate of formal housing delivery is not keeping pace with the expansion of informal settlements, this illegal practice is only taking us backwards as a city. We have a vision for sustainable housing located within a broader land and social reform framework and efforts must be made to ensure that this vision is not side-lined. An integrated, interdepartmental effort will be required to curb land invasion in the city and ensure the active involvement of communities.”
The City of Tshwane is working with the provincial government to ensure that a range of housing opportunities are available for different income levels and speeding up the delivery of title deeds to state- subsided housing so that recipients have legal ownership of their homes.
Under the DA-led government Tshwane will continue to champion equitable and fair access to a range of housing solutions to deserving individuals. This will take some time but we are committed to restoring order and dignity in our city.