Tsunami residents accuse City and Province of playing games

The residents marched yesterday to the Civic Centre, demanding to be moved from the wetland where they live.

Last month they marched to the offices of MEC for Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela. But in a letter early in July Madikizela told them that moving them to another land was not his department’s responsibility but that of the City.

Today the group of protesters marched to the Civic Centre demanding to see Mayor Patricia de Lille. They said they were tired of empty promises and would not leave until De Lille came to take their memorandum. But De Lille was not available.

Residents said they had been waiting for the provincial government and City to move them to dry land in Forest Village and Blueberry Hill, but no one wanted to take responsibility for them.

Community leader Kwanele Mcaleni said: “It is time we got answers. We are tired of waiting. There’s a possibility that we can be evicted any time and no one is giving us any proper answers.”

Residents said they would sleep next to the Civic Centre until De Lille promised to move them.

Residents started shouting when Wilfred Solomons-Johannes from the Mayor’s office came to collect the memorandum. “We want De Lille, where is the Mayor?” residents shouted.

Solomons-Johannes said De Lille was in the council meeting for the day.

Residents first refused to give Solomons-Johannes their memorandum. But after a brief meeting with Mcaleni, they gave it to him.

Mcaleni told residents that Solomons-Johannes had told him that the Tsunami shacks were not the City’s responsibility.

“This man says we are not City’s responsibility and we live in Tsunami illegally,” said Mcaleni, before he read out the response they got from Madikizela’s office.

Solomons-Johannes requested a copy of the letter from Madikizela’s office.

“We told the previous community leaders that the land you are living io does not belong to the City of Cape Town, it belongs to the province. As a City we want to help you but we can not take province’s responsibilities, just like we can not take national government’s responsibilities,” said Solomons-Johannes.

He said he would take the memorandum to Madikizela’s office and arrange a meeting for the community leaders.

Mcaleni said as residents they were not happy but would wait for Solomons-Johannes to carry out his promise. He said the City and the province were “playing games” with them.