Pastor from Standerton waits 13 years for illegal occupants to be evicted
According to him, he has been sent from pillar to post and Lekwa eventually said the council has to decide and also said a legal opinion is needed.
The Khonzi Nkosi Church from Standerton has been waiting 13 years for the Lekwa Municipality to remove illegal occupants from more than one stand.
Pastor Abner Sibeko from Florapark visited the offices of the Standerton Advertiser on February 10.
According to Sibeko, stand 6042 was bought in 2009 for the sum of R20 780 and an agreement was reached between the then administrator, Jabulani Isaac Sindane, and himself. The property was sold voetstoots.
Illegal occupants, however, were on the site and according to Sibeko, he was told they are ‘faithful comrades’ and cannot be removed.
“Illegal encroachment of the perimeter fence and shacks of the Khumalo family were seen on stand 6042.”
Stand 6042 now has an RDP house.
According to the pastor, the family, when confronted, asked him why was he given such a big stand when they had no place to go.
Another stand in Rooikoppen was then promised after five years.
In a letter dated January 27, 2016, the pastor was promised that erf 5472 in Sakhile would be allocated to him and an apology rendered.
“I wrote a letter of complaint on April 29, 2018, and delivered it on the 30th,” Sibeko said.
The letter was put into the receiving box at the municipal offices.
Erf 5817 in Rooikoppen was eventually promised to the church and illegal occupants once again made use of the property. According to the pastor, about four families lived on the site.
“Lekwa promised to evict them, but did not,” Sibeko said.
He then wrote a letter to the former administrator, Johann Mettler, asking for an appointment and put the letter in the municipal receiving box. This was just after the municipal elections.
“I got no response,” he also said.
A stand-in Ext 8 furthermore, promised to him, is without infrastructure. The last stand in Rooikoppen promised to him as well, was without infrastructure. “I serviced it myself,” the pastor added.
The stand faces 6042 in Rooikoppen.
According to him, he has been sent from pillar to post and Lekwa eventually said the council has to decide and also said a legal opinion is needed.
Sibeko emphasised many letters have been written to the municipality. The newspaper has seen several of the original documents.
According to him, the only mayor prepared to talk to him was the late Matsideso (Caroline) Morajane.
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The pastor delivers his sermon on Sundays from a carport that can accommodate four vehicles in his yard.
His congregation is from Ext 8, Rooikoppen, Meyerville and downtown. Transport issues are the reason for a stand in Rooikoppen.
The Standerton Advertiser sent a WhatsApp message on February 15 to Thando Nkosi, communications officer at Lekwa, posing the following questions:
• What is Lekwa’s policy on illegal occupation?
• What is the reason for the delay in removing illegal occupants from a stand in Rooikoppen?
• Why can’t the Khonzi Nkosi Church occupy its site?
• Has a legal opinion been requested to solve this issue?
• Has the matter been put on the agenda for a council meeting? Nkosi sent an email on February 16 in which he said:
• The municipality drafted the by-law for the management and control of informal settlements.
• This by-law is intended to combat land invasion, which tends to put the municipality under pressure in terms of service delivery.
Also, if left unchecked, it tends to make the urban area hazardous as the urban area becomes shapeless.
• The municipality had no by-law regulating or controlling the illegal occupation of council land at the time.
The human settlements unit had no capacity to handle land invasions. Some land invasions were politically motivated.
• Legal opinion was sought and packaged with the item that needs to be considered by the council.
