SASOLBURG – For various reasons, local residents are not happy with the development that is currently ongoing in six extensions in the town and are demanding that it be stopped.
AfriForum supports the community’s concerns and demands that the Metsimaholo Local Municipality stop the development as it allegedly does not meet several critical requirements for development.
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The civil rights organisation argues that developers do not comply with requirements regarding, among other things, sewage, stormwater and traffic and that this ultimately harms safe and sustainable development in this municipal area.
“We already have a crisis with sewage ending up in the Vaal River and we are concerned that there is no capacity to accommodate the development of 8 000 new homes.
“Drinking water, storm water and road infrastructure are the next source of concern. If the prescribed requirements are not met, it will cause an environmental nightmare that we simply cannot afford,” says Jaco Grobbelaar, AfriForum’s regional head for the Central Region.
This development, which is undertaken in extensions 74, 75, 76, 77, 78 and 79, is part of the Sasolburg town planning scheme, which was approved by the Metsimaholo Town Planning Tribunal on 17 October 2019.
However, the development was kicked off before all the conditions set by the tribunal were met.
In a letter that AfriForum addressed to the Metsimaholo municipality, the civil rights organisation requests, among other things, the plans for the development of road infrastructure, sewage works, water points and so on as outlined by the tribunal so that it can be determined whether the development meets all the necessary requirements and conditions. There is still no sign of the expansion of sewage works or water plants to create extra capacity, the road network has not been expanded to handle the extra traffic and stormwater drains have not been built either.
Requirements that must be met include, among others:
* consolidation of grounds as set out by the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act 16 of 2013;
* renovation of the road network and infrastructure as detailed in the traffic impact study;
* appointment of an independent contractor to carry out a complete infrastructure assessment;
* design and construction of a new sewage plant to provide sufficient sewage for the development;
* construction and design of adequate stormwater systems; and
* submission of preliminary design plans of the houses to be built in the town development area (these plans must be submitted within six months of the approval of the development).
* AfriForum said that if the Metsimaholo Municipality did not provide the necessary documentation, the organisation would be forced to take legal action to obtain an interdict for the cessation of the development.
FURTHER DISAPPOINTMENT
While some are unhappy about what impact the development could have on the area, there are others who are enraged about job opportunities during the development. “The development at Wonderfontein in Sasolburg, at an estimated cost for the building of 6 000 to 8 000 houses is around 3.2 billion. We seek answers as about 85% of the people employed there are not residents of Sasolburg,” said Mieta Mosea.
