Over 100 houses illegally occupied in stalled Nyanga project

Some of the houses in a stalled Nyanga housing project in Cape Town that were vandalised. Photos: Sandiso Phaliso

Over 100 houses have been illegally occupied in a stalled housing project in Nyanga, Cape Town. Some of the houses, which had been left vacant for months, were vandalised, stripped of windows, doors, roof sheets and even rafters.

The housing project, at the corner of Govan Mbeki Road and New Eisleben Road, Erf 2849 Mau-Mau, was meant to deliver 443 units. Of these, 216 units were completed and handed over to beneficiaries.

It is part of the adjacent housing project in Gugulethu, which has seen only a handful of its 570 units completed and handed over to beneficiaries.

The Nyanga project commenced in 2018. It has been delayed by various issues that plague housing delivery: attempts at extortion, problems with the contractor, the unlawful occupation of partially completed units, and vandalism. The covid pandemic in 2020 also stopped construction.

The City is now in the process of awarding a contract for rectification work to be funded by a national subsidy.

According to the City, by 2021, 110 illegal occupations had taken place.

Many of the houses were not yet connected to services, but people have connected to electricity and water illegally.

Mayco member for human settlements Carl Pophaim says the City’s legal department is currently dealing with the matter. He said illegal occupiers will be evicted.

Neighbouring residents say the vacant houses have become a hideout for criminals.

“People are robbed there,” says Zukiswa Ntanjeni, a legal beneficiary who has been living in her allocated house for the past two years. The house has not been connected to electricity, and she relies on a gas stove.

Tensions have also risen between the illegal occupiers and nearby backyarders, who feel they are entitled to the houses.

An illegal occupier, who refused to be named, said he has been a backyarder for 20 years and has been on the housing waiting list for ten years.

“I took the house when it had no roof, windows or doors. It was empty. If I did not take over the house, it would be standing empty like the others, or someone else would have taken it,” he said.

“How come a province with a delivery backlog of 600,000 homes still has houses standing empty?” he asked.

Some of the houses were vandalised, stripped of windows, doors, roof sheets and even rafters.

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