GLENHILLS residents and ward 110 councillor, Pete Graham, say they are completely in the dark over the eThekwini Municipality’s move to ‘partially upgrade’ the Malacca Road Informal Settlement.
Graham said he, nor the residents of the settlement, had been given an explanation about the future plans of the settlement.
This follows an email to Graham from the City’s Human Settlements Planning Section where the plan was first mentioned.
“The email didn’t really say what a partial upgrade is. Residents of Glenhills have raised various and valid concerns about what the upgrade could mean for the area. Much of the land at the Malacca Road Informal Settlement is under land claim and the question raised is have the land claimants been made aware of any of the plans?” questioned Graham.
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“The residents of the settlement were promised they would moved to the Cornubia housing development last year, however the agreement was not honoured nor were the residents informed whether the move was still a possibility. What would make more sense is for the City to look at fixing the sewage problem the residents face on a daily basis. I would love to see funds being allocated to fix that problem which has been reported in the press numerous times,” he said.
Graham added that more informal dwellings were being built in Malacca despite a court order stating no more dwellings could be constructed.
“Does the partial upgrade mean more informal dwellings which will place more strain on the resources at the settlement? All we want is for the City to provide answers to these questions and take into account the residents of Glenhills and the settlement,” he said.
In a written response to Northglen News, city spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela explained what the partial upgrade meant.
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“Although the settlement has been earmarked for an upgrade, there are a several processes required to confirm that the land occupied is developable (even partially) via pre-feasibility and feasibility studies. An upgrade could entail the provision of incremental services such as communal ablution blocks, electricity, roads and footpaths and the like with the intention of a full upgrade that will eventually result in a planning playout, subdivision of sites, construction of formal housing.
Mayisela said the city would be holding engagements with stakeholders at the detail planning stage.
“The city is open to solutions which also take into account the views of the informal residents. We will be engaging with internal departments shortly to better understand the constraints affecting the land prior to committing to a permanent intervention. Equally so the views of any land claimants and the affected communities (both formal and informal) are significant in moving forward,” he said.
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