The farming community of Steenekoppies outside Krugersdorp is outraged because the Mogale City Local Municipality (Krugersdorp, Magaliesburg, Muldersdrift) sent in bulldozers to prepare the land for an informal settlement on section 79 and 153 on the farm Steenekoppies without any warning or a public participation process.
The bulldozers have already closed off the servitude road used by numerous farmers to gain access to their farms.
The piece of well-watered agricultural land is situated next to the R400, a stone's throw from the Maropeng Centre, which is the official visitor centre for the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.
The FF Plus has since determined that no environmental impact studies for the proposed settlement have been conducted and that the planned establishment of the settlement does not form part of the Municipality's Integrated Development Plan (IDP).
During a passionate public meeting lead by the Mogale City Member of the Mayoral Committee for housing, Bongani Nkosi, this past Saturday, community members who already live on the land and who were allegedly promised ownership as well as farmers from the surrounding areas concurred that the Municipality is mistreating them. Nkosi had to adjourn the meeting and offered to answer any further questions in writing.
The FF Plus views Mogale City's decision as ill-considered seeing as another informal settlement has already been established a mere two kilometres away. This settlement in Orient Hills has no access to basic services. As a result, residents frequently protest and block the road to Maropeng and the Golden Harvest Home for the Elderly with rocks.
The people who will live in the new planned informal settlement in Steenekoppies come from an informal settlement in West Village, outside Krugersdorp, which was forcibly evacuated and demolished by the Municipality. At present, families are housed in various municipal buildings in Krugersdorp.
These people are not satisfied with the idea of settling more than 20 km outside of town seeing as there are no job opportunities there and it is quite a distance from the places where they currently work.
The FF Plus has already sent an urgent letter to the Mayor of Mogale City, Francis Makgatho, requesting that the activities must be brought to a halt at once to ensure that all municipal regulations as well as the necessary public participation processes are adhered to.
The party will also ask the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Lebogang Maile, to step in and help remedy the situation.
Contact details: 082 806 7891
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