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OVERCROWDED: The booming Siqalo in formal settlement has Mitchell’s Plain residents fuming. Photo: Laila Majiet
Stay of execution for Siqalo LAILA MAJIET
RESIDENTS close to the Siqalo informal settlement will have to wait two more months for a final court ruling to be rid of the land invaders. The booming informal settlement on Vanguard Drive has Rondevlei and Colorado Park residents fuming as land invaders continue to occupy the private property. The land, owned by Lyton Props Twelve, is meant to be used for sand mining, but has been vacant for years. A feedback meeting with Mayor Patricia de Lille was scheduled for the end of this month, but has been postponed until April as the matter is still before the courts. The community of more than 2000 people were served with an eviction notice. The Western Cape High Court granted the notice of eviction and an interdict preventing residents from erecting any more structures
(“Land invaders to fight eviction”, People’s Post, 4 September). Siqualo residents were given until November to appeal the eviction. Many Siqalo residents claim they have nowhere else to go as they are unemployed. They say they moved on to the land because of desperation. In April, a mass invasion took place on the eight hectares close to Highlands Drive, Mitchell’s Plain. Ayama Nkotha (30) has been living in Siqalo for a year now and claims she and her family have nowhere else to go. “I lived in Philippi. We had to pay R350 for rent. I lost my job as a domestic worker. My husband does not have a job. Here in Siqalo we do not have to pay rent,” she explains. The uncertainty of her future is beginning to sink in as a final court ruling looms. “I feel bad because I do not know what will happen to us if they must decide to evict us from this land.”
Sindiswa Magwebelele (21) moved into the informal settlement in March. She says she cannot afford to lose her home. “If we get evicted the City of Cape Town must find us alternative accommodation,” says the mother-to-be. “There are many people here who cannot afford to live elsewhere and pay rent; 98% of these people are unemployed.” However, a Rondevlei resident says she is fed up with the City of Cape Town for failing ratepayers. Speaking to People’s Post on condition of anonymity for safety concerns, this resident says: “We pay rates and taxes and we have to be subjected to land invaders crawling through our streets. “We have never had so many break-ins and robberies in our area until the settlement mushroomed out of control.” She moved into the area eight years ago and says she has never felt more unsafe. “When we moved in we could leave our cars
parked outside. My husband, who is a builder, recently had his bakkie stolen. My neighbour’s bakkie was also stolen around the same time.” Colorado Park Community Police Subforum chairperson Mark Brookes says while the informal settlement does not fall within their sector, it has had a slight impact on crime levels in the area. “There has been a slight increase in the number of contact crimes happening in Colorado Park, which includes the theft of cellphones and handbags,” he says. He says the CPF is in contact with the City of Cape Town to discuss fencing off thoroughfares used by Siqalo residents to get into Colorado Park and surrounding areas.
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