Nobody in his or her right senses will take Nomvula Mokonyane’s grand political posturing on Alex in defence of her erstwhile friend and comrade, President Jacob Zuma, during the Parliamentary debate on the State of the Nation Address, better known as SONA, seriously.
In her contribution to the debate, Mokonyane went on a rant and accused a Democratic Alliance member of Parliament of being responsible for the decay, filth, dumping and general dilapidation in Alexandra, and went on to say that the ANC government had succeeded in its battle during its 20-year rule to turn Alexandra around.
No… that’s hogwash Mokonyane, you haven’t managed to turn Alexandra around at all. Alexandra is still the same old Alexandra with its same old filth, decay, dumping and dilapidation. You never managed to renew anything – but what you managed to do was to build new matchbox houses on the peripheries of Alex.
In the core of Alex, the old Alex, you failed dismally because you did not want to listen to the people as you wanted to impose ‘your will be done’ policy down the community’s throat.
You failed as Housing MEC and as Premier to effect the change desired by the community, and that was to do first things first. Alex residents, especially the property owners represented by the Alexandra Land and Property Owners’ Association (Alpoa), told you in no uncertain terms to restore land and property rights usurped by the apartheid government first – before you could talk about the renewal of Alexandra.
It is common sense and it goes without saying that you had to establish the rightful owners first, and then restore legal ownership. When you renew Alexandra, in whose name were you going to renew those houses or properties before the restoration of title deeds? Title deeds are the only legal document that would have enabled you to know whom you were renewing the house(s) for, whether X house is for Mr or Mrs or Ms X. Who were you going to hand the renewed house, or houses to if you did not establish the rightful owner or owners first?
You never listened, instead, you stubbornly went ahead with the policy and started the demolition of people’s houses under your not-so-cool agency, the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) in cahoots with the City of Johannesburg, the former which has since been swallowed up by the Joburg Development Agency (JDA).
Your policy of a block-by-block renewal of Alex totally failed and blew up in your face because you did not want to listen to the voice of reason from the property owners. It is common knowledge that people bought the pieces of land from the then-farm owner Herbert Papenfus as of 1912 and established Alexandra Township, named after his wife.
Because you did not want to listen to the property owners, they then decided to obtain a court interdict barring you (Gauteng government), the City of Johannesburg and your ARP from any form of demolition and renewal of any old structure in the core of Alex before the settlement of title deeds and the outcome of a Land Claims Court case, because you, Mokonyane did not want to listen to your own people.
