Settlement dwellers cry for help ahead of the wet weather in Cape Town
|Published
Residents of Knole Park Settlement in Ottery say the City of Cape Town has neglected them for over 20 years and their living conditions keep getting worse especially in winter - now calling for relocations. Picture: SUPPLIED
Cape Town - With the winter season approaching, some informal settlement residents are already fearing for the worst as they usually live in waterlogged homes.
Some Knole Park residents are among those in the unserviced floodplain who have suffered for over 30 years now.
This settlement forms part of over 62% of illegal dwellings that are located in areas where permanent services cannot be provided. The dwellers now want authorities to relocate them to a safer place before anticipated winter rains start in the province.
“We have, over the years, appealed to the City for housing, to no avail, and this place is unhealthy and has made a lot of us sick. Some of us have stayed here for more than 20 years and remain on the housing waiting list. We stayed here in hopes that we’d only relocate when moving to our own homes, but it is clear that is not going to happen any time soon, so all we are asking is for them to find us a proper place to move to until the houses come,” said Hendricks Smiles, who lives in a three-roomed wendy house with his family.
There are about 30 dwellings occupying the privately owned land earmarked for a residential development.
The owner of the land, Abdul Kader Hendricks, said he’s been patient with the residents “as I understand their circumstances and have been engaging with the City on how we could improve their living conditions and possibly provide them with houses, but it is a long process full of empty promises. Whenever you start inquiring for feedback, they just schedule a meeting that will keep being postponed and postponed, only to hear the same thing again. I wouldn’t want to evict these people as they already have a tough life. Winter season makes things worse for them as the land wasn’t prepared, and there is no drainage system.”
Chamelle Witbooi, another resident, further explained they’d prefer to be temporarily relocated to the surrounding areas where their lives wouldn’t be inconvenienced, especially the children attending schools in Ottery and neighbouring communities.
“There’s high unemployment and poverty here. We wouldn’t afford paying school transport hence we ask to be moved anywhere nearby. But this doesn’t mean we’re forgetting about our houses. We still want them and want the City to at least tell us when they are going to build for us. This isn’t the life we want for our children,” she said.
Elton Jansen, the ward councillor, said these residents previously rejected offers to be relocated and demanded permanent housing.
“We are aware of their situation and have in the previous years offered to incorporate them in other relocation projects within the ward but they were never interested. The offer still stands. However, it must be noted that 38 houses are not an emergency, there are bigger settlements also needing interventions, and we are busy with that project. If they are serious about their request, we’ll consider it. We just can’t give any time frames of details at this stage,” Jansen said.