Mass objection launched
The request made by consultants was simple; publish a notice in which urgent information was required regarding alleged animal and human burial sites situated on the land.
Residents launched a mass objection against the development of the remaining portion of Rietfontein Farm last week.
The development, which will be known as Sunningdale Extentions 13 to 20, will house some 8 000 low-income residential units over an area of land which is said to hold 7 000 graves, a number of archaeological sites and a pristine Bankenveld grassland.
Objections to the City of Johannesburg were due today, April 30.
Among residents’ concerns of the high density accommodation area included the electrical infrastructure.
With municipalities and Eksom currently unable to sustain the current load on suburbs, residents questioned whether the added load of 8 000 residential units could be supported.
In the executive summery from town planners, it was stated that solar geysers would be installed on all residential units.
This raised further concerns that it would down-market the area with fears that the development would look similar to that which can be seen from the N3 when driving past Malboro Road.
Another concern raised by residents is the capability of the roads to handle the increased traffic.
“Civin Drive and Club Street are two-lane roads; how are these roads going to handle thousands of additional cars before they can be upgraded?” asked one resident.
Residents are also concerned over how the introduction of thousands of low income houses would impact the current property prices in the surrounding areas of Bedfordview, Dowerglen, Linksfield, and Senderwood.
Road maintenance for the additional increase in traffic volumes was also listed as a concern.
“Currently, the municipality is unable to maintain the roads properly. Potholes are evident in most places and the road surfaces in Edenvale and Linksfield are deteriorating,” said a resident.
It would also appear that environmental consultants only headed to residents’ concerns recently, when contact was made with the NEWS on April 16.
The request made by consultants was simple; publish a notice in which urgent information was required regarding alleged animal and human burial sites situated on the land.
Through the notice, which was scheduled to be published in today’s classified sections, community members, institutions, organisations and government entities were called to supply information regarding animal and human graves on the Sizwe Hospital site.
Information supplied to consultants stated that burial sites on the property included; carcasses of animals infected by Anthrax bacteria, bodies of humans infected with various tropical diseases treated in the Sizwe Hospital and a Jewish Cemetery.
According to the notice, the project team tried for more than six months to obtain concrete evidence regarding the existence and location of the alleged Jewish and animal graves on the property.
The notice states that nobody could supply any useful or specific information in this regard.
At this stage, the preliminary soil surveys, cultural and historical surveys and other relevant specialist surveys, which will be made available as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, identified only three small burial sites on the property.
Due to current evidence obtained, consultants are of the opinion that the three sites identified incorporate the only graves present on the property.
Consultants believe that shallow soil conditions at the site supports preliminary findings that there are only three burial sites on the property.
Through the open invitation, consultants hope to determine whether there are any parties that have information regarding the history of the Sizwe or Rietfontein Hospital and the associated burial activities.
It is also hoped that patients, or deceased people who were buried on the property, can be identified.
HISTORY
In 2012, the NEWS, reported that little seemed to be known about the development and questions asked by the NEWS went unanswered.
The proposed development was published in a Government tender bulletin in December 2011 and called for proposals for an integrated residential development on the remaining portion of Rietfontein Farm.
Pre-qualification requirements stated that development proposals should include an array of housing opportunities, such as affordable housing units.
At the time, the 171 hectare property situated between Club Street, the N3, Linksfield Road and Modderfontein Road was worth an estimated R80-million.
Some of the concerns raised by the ward 19 councillor, Clr Bill Rundle, at the time included the impact the development would have on traffic for the surrounding suburbs of Edenvale and Bedfordview.
“There are a large number of indigenous plants on the property, some which cannot be found anywhere else in Johannesburg, including a rare miniature orchid,” said Clr Rundle.
Other fears for the development of the property include rumours of animal carcasses infected with Anthrax, which were buried on the property.
He also raised concerns of what will be done with the 7 000 graves on the property.
It is believed that some 7 000 victims of smallpox, leprosy, plague and syphilis were buried in the cemetery, divided into black, white, Jewish and infant sections.
It is believed that a large portion of the proposed development would take place over the cemetery.
In 1904, the plague broke out in Johannesburg and more than 1 000 patients were treated at Sizwe Hospital.
Those who died were buried in a separate plague cemetery on the grounds, in graves demarcated only by numbers. In 1939, an outbreak of smallpox hit Johannesburg.
Patients were dying at the rate of 20 to 30 a day and were buried on the property.
As a precaution against the disease lingering, quick lime was poured into the graves.
The leprosy and Jewish cemeteries have not been located and the hospital’s burial register has been missing for years.
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