The Alexandra Land and Property Owners Association (Alpoa) has accused government of putting the cart before the horse by proposing an early celebratory party – before the restoration of any of the title deeds.
Alpoa secretary general, Jacky Segopa, said his organisation was sceptical about government’s intentions of advocating for an early celebration – even before the first house has had its title deeds restored. He scorned the proposed party and described government actions as “jumping the gun”.
Government proposed to hold a celebratory party on 15 September, but Alpoa refused to play ball and scorned the idea. “We were worried that government wanted to hold a quick celebratory party in order to brag about the achievements to everybody and then leave us high and dry,” Segopa said.
“We insisted the party be deferred until such time as all claimants and their properties had been consolidated, including those who were subsequently put on a 99-year lease upon expropriation, which government has been sitting on for years, pretending that that it was non-existent.”
Segopa said they also wanted a settlement on a proposal to offer pockets of serviced land in Marlboro and Lombardy to some of the claimants whose properties were destroyed to make way for the building of schools, and in certain instances, the expansion of school grounds.
“All these demands… should be met before we can talk partying,” said Segopa, who pointed out that Alpoa had also made a breakthrough after it was recognised as having the right to claim on behalf of its members.
Segopa said one of the sticky points was that the City of Johannesburg had claimed Alpoa was negotiating with them while holding a cocked gun to their heads, referring to the pending court case with the Randburg Land Claims Court.
“Alpoa countered by pointing out that they too were negotiating with us with our hands handcuffed. They must free us first by restoring the title deeds, and only then can we negotiate. They must not jump the gun and put the cart before the horse,” he added.
A smiling Segopa, sensing victory after four decades of struggle, said they were currently panel beating a memorandum of understanding with the government regarding time frames to decongest crowded properties and finding alternative land for tenants who have lived on a property for years.
“The sooner we can come to an understanding and agreement on these sticky matters the better, as this could lead to an out of court settlement on the whole land and property ownership saga in Alexandra,” Segopa said.
