Mamelodi flood victims and others on unsuitable land to be shifted – MMC

Mamelodi flood victims will be among the 500 households relocated after living in the Nellmapius Community Hall for the past two years after their homes were damaged in extreme floods.

The City of Tshwane said 500 households would be relocated by the end of the year. The residents were forced to move into a local community hall after their dwellings were washed away by a raging storm two years ago.

On Thursday, City of Tshwane MMC for human settlements Ofentse Madzebatela said: “The city has started relocating the Mamelodi flood victims.

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“The relocation also includes beneficiaries from several areas that erected structures on uninhabitable land.” Madzebatela said in total more than 500 households will be relocated to Leeuwfontein extension 27.

“This township is developable, near major roads and there are plans to establish a formal township.

“The 500 households include the flood victims and beneficiaries from Seven, Eerste Fabrieke, Phomolong, Mamelodi Phase 1 and Mamelodi Ext 17 who had erected their shacks on flood lines, wetlands, municipal servitudes and a municipal hall, thus rendering their areas undevelopable,” he said.

‘I can’t wait for them to move’

Piet Sithole was visiting his children, who live with their mother in the temporary shelter in the community hall.

“They have been here for more than two years. It’s not better here. I can’t wait for them to move,” he said. Sithole said there wasn’t much space for the children to play in the community hall, but for now it was the only place they had to live in.

A resident, who agreed to speak anonymously, said that it wasn’t pleasant living in the community hall. “We are women and children in the hall and the men live in the library.

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“We don’t have privacy here because the other women’s men come to see their wives,” she said.

The resident said couples were also separated. “We have to cook where we sleep. We did use the kitchen in the beginning but people started fighting with each other,” she said.

‘Every time it rains it floods’

The resident said she had a shack and stand but couldn’t return because it had been flooded. “Every time it rains it floods and I need to go there to save my stuff,” she said.

The resident, who has lived in the area for seven years, said they had not known the area was prone to flooding. Another resident said they had not heard about any relocation.

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“That’s a lie, we don’t know anything about relocating,” she said. The resident said the authorities kept on saying they were relocating them, but then nothing happens.

“They are relocating the wrong people. We were the first victims and we have been here the longest. They were supposed to start with us,” she said.

Both the residents said the City of Tshwane visited the community hall at the beginning of November and asked residents to identify their stands and shacks. But they had not heard from them again.

None of those in the community hall knew when it would be their turn to be relocated. Madzebatela said the relocation was expected to be completed by the end of December.

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