Residents of an informal settlement near Kgosi Mampuru prison in Tshwane are refusing to vacate the area despite a court application by the public works and infrastructure department for their immediate eviction.
Minister Dean Macpherson filed a motion in the Pretoria high court in a continued effort to remove more than 100 families living in the New Stands area of the Baghdad informal settlement in Salvokop.
The department said the proposed eviction would make way for the construction of a new road connecting Salvokop to the prison – a key component of the broader Salvokop precinct development project.
Launched in 2022, the mixed-use development aims to transform the area with new government offices, commercial spaces and housing.
However, Baghdad residents are refusing to move, saying they’ve been left in the dark about relocation plans and accused the department of failing to properly engage with the community.
The residents filed an affidavit opposing the court application, attaching multiple petitions and memorandums of demands submitted to the City of Tshwane and the department. They say they are in favour of the relocation, but demand transparency on relocation timelines, housing alternatives and the legal status of their occupation.
“According to [the department’s] response to our memorandum regarding a relocation plan, the department will provide a transitional relocation facility with all the basic services required in a human settlement. But Lindela [the area they are meant to be moved to] lacks the characteristics of a transitional facility,” the residents said in their affidavit.
According to [the department’s] response to our memorandum regarding a relocation plan, the department will provide a transitional relocation facility with all the basic services required in a human settlement.
— affidavit
“Apart from having only chemical toilets, which we have been using but were forcefully taken from our community on July 1 without consulting with us, there’s no water or electricity. It is also built in the middle of a construction site, which makes it humanly uninhabitable,” the affidavit reads.
The residents stated that the department had failed to present them with a comprehensive relocation plan.
“The government authorities have failed to account regarding the relocation; we believe it is because there was no alternative accommodation in the first place, yet the government wants us to move so we can make way for the construction of the roadway and this may explain why we have been threatened and intimidated by the same government officials,” the residents said.
“We, the people in New Stands, are willing to relocate and we are happy about the development project and the promise of the economic benefits that come with it. But we expect that a proper relocation process should be followed by the government when relocating people.”
Last month, Sowetan reported that there are almost 1,000 informal settlements in three Gauteng metros and that officials are battling to curb the mushrooming shacks.
Tshwane has recorded the highest number, with 502 informal settlements, followed by Johannesburg with 352 and Ekurhuleni with 125.
Sowetan
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