The Organic Market informal settlement has been at the centre of protests since last year, with residents of Bramley View demanding it is removed because it devalues their properties.
It remains unclear if residents of the infamous Organic Market will be relocated or not after residents of Bramley View called for their removal.
This after last year’s protests by Bramley residents, demanding that the people of the informal settlement be moved elsewhere.
Residents cited crime, pollution, congestion and devaluation of their properties as the main reasons.
Lindiwe Thabethe, a resident of the infamous Organic Market is adamant that they will not be removed from their homes and disputes that they devalue properties in Bramley View.
The Organic Market informal settlement was created by the City after people were evicted from one of the nearby buildings in Alexandra.
The City was then forced, through a court order, to find alternative shelter for the residents.
In a heated public meeting addressed by the City’s regional director on 14 March 2017 as reported on the North Eastern Tribune Week ending 24 March, residents were told that the Organic Market is here to stay due to a lack of available land to accommodate them. And residents were informed that the interim solution to the problem is to decongest the settlement and make it habitable.
By decongesting the settlement, services such as running water, electricity and security would be made available.
Even though residents of Bramley View are still adamant they want the Organic Market removed and that was evident by the protests that followed.
City’s regional director Liziwe Makoro told the residents that there was nothing the government could do but allow the people to stay there.
Makoro said as much as the City understands their frustrations, there is no alternative yet.
“It is unfortunate that the decision cannot be reversed because when the court prescribed to us to accommodate them, we had no option but to abide by the ruling,” said Mokoro.
“The only thing that as a government we can do [for now] is to decongest the area and ensure that better services are afforded to them to improve living conditions there.”
City of Johannesburg regional director, Liziwe Makoro, addresses residents in Bramley View.
Residents said they feel compromised considering that they are paying bonds for their houses which is their investment as well.
Ward 81 councillor, Irene Rugheimer, when contacted on 8 February, said, “The regional director drew up a proposal and shared it with the housing steering committee. The proposal will be presented to the Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba and then further engagement will take place.”
Lindiwe Thabethe, a resident of Organic Market said, “We are going nowhere and I don’t buy it when they say we devalue their property.”
