The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) will assist the communities of Gezina and Capital Park in an effort to keep these neighbourhoods from turning into crime-infested areas following the relocation of the so-called Melgisedek squatters.
It was just announced that the Tshwane Metro Council will soon relocate the illegal occupants of the controversial Melgisedek Centre to a temporary tent town in Capital Park, after the Court of Appeal last week rejected a second application by Lawyers for Human Rights to stop the relocation.
The judgment, but particularly the Metro Council’s response to it, marks a severe setback for vulnerable residents’ rights, while simultaneously paving the way for the Tshwane Metro to take a harsh, inhumane approach that will be detrimental to the Melgisedek residents and could potentially destroy Capital Park’s unique character.
The Freedom Front Plus recognises that unsafe buildings need to be made secure, but it should never be at the expense of human dignity. The Metroโs promise of โsafe and dignified temporary accommodationโ sounds hollow given its track record of similar processes in Tshwane.
The Freedom Front Plus is engaging with developers who are prepared to develop dignified alternative accommodation for Melgisedek residents in the city centre, but the Metroโs ANC/EFF/ActionSA administration has rejected the proposed solutions and insists on relocating them to a tent camp in the Moot.
This is obstinate and malicious, while offering no real solution to the problem. The Metro administration’s callous conduct will be to everybody’s detriment.
The Freedom Front Plus demands:
โข That no evictions take place before sufficient, dignified and permanent alternative housing has been secured.
โข That the process is not misused to score cheap political points, but to actually serve residents’ interests.
The party will keep a close eye on the matter and use all the resources at its disposal to ensure that fairness and human dignity are not lost in the process.
