The letter writer, Ernest Waner, demanded that those in authority do something about the informal settlement known as Plastic City.
A portion of the letter reads: “It is up to those responsible parties, the mayor, the council, municipal manager, the CCC of Brakpan and Clr Veronica Dyson to see whether an arrangement can be made.
“That is their job and is what they get paid for.” (Read the full letter here).
Angela Barnes, DA media liaison for the Ekurhuleni caucus, responded: “It must be understood that the DA is in opposition and doesn’t hold power or the purse strings.
“We have, over many years, tried to pressurise the ruling party into making a decision in the best interests of all parties and in accordance with the rule of law.
“This amounts to identifying suitable alternative land for this community, estimated to be 2 000 people; consulting the affected people in this regard through their community leaders, while making it understood that their current living conditions are unacceptable and cannot continue; providing access to water and sanitation on the property to which they will be moved; gaining a court order to enable a legal relocation and issuing due and proper legal notices to the residents, informing them of the date on which they will be moved; providing assistance to break down the structures in which the people are living and to rebuild them at the new premises; providing transport to move the people along with their structures and possessions, and providing the materials to build new structures in the likely event that some residents have shacks that are made of materials that are too dilapidated to re-erect.
“These are the main points that council is obliged to adhere to in order to bring about a legal, humane and successful relocation, as the DA has repeatedly pointed out.
“The attempt, a few months ago, to arbitrarily evict residents by sending in the Red Ants to demolish shacks in front of traumatised families, without legal notice, was contemptuous.
“The fact of the matter is that this council ignored the problem when it first arose years ago.
“When a few people started erecting shacks across from the Weltevreden Dump Site – a situation to which the DA alerted council – immediate action should have been taken at that early stage to remove them.
“In terms of the ruling party’s own legislation, it is now not possible to do that without taking the steps as described above.
“Bottom line: the ANC must solve the problem it helped to create.
“The DA is only able to advise and stand up for human rights and the rule of law.
“We will not stand by and watch families, including the elderly and babies – who have been left to their own devices for years – being literally turned out onto the streets, just because the ruling party is bending under pressure.
“As I have said explicitly to the mayor in past council meetings, the ANC must not resort to bully-boy tactics with helpless people.
“This complex situation is of council’s own making and now requires common sense, compassion and real leadership.
“I expect the mayor to step up to the plate and fix the huge issue that is Plastic City.”
