The provincial government and the city are on a collision course over assisting the 1 600 homeless Delft residents.
It has also emerged that 400 of the people who were evicted from the Delft houses are due to be recipients of the very homes they invaded and which have subsequently been vandalised.
And with elections looming next year, Premier Ebrahim Rasool has accused the DA of again using the emotional issue of housing and people's fears as an electioneering tool.
On Friday Rasool and two MECs, Richard Dyantyi and Kholeka Mqulwana, outlined an emergency rescue package for the evicted people.
However, the province's role is to advise and provide funds, but municipalities ultimately have the authority to implement the plans.
Hot on the heels of the premier's press conference, the city issued a press release outlining its own rescue package, markedly different from the province's.
On Wednesday the province said while it was preparing land it wanted the city to make community halls available where the evicted people could be housed and fed, and have access to medical and social services.
The province also asked the council to place chemical toilets and water facilities there, and provide trucks to transport people who had alternative accommodation.
But the city has a different plan. Mayoral committee member for housing Dan Plato said the city would put up hundreds of tents on the edge of the building site while alternative land is being made available. Ninety chemical toilets had been placed on the road reserve, water standpipes had been installed and skips would be brought in for waste removal.
It is expected the residents will live in the tents for up to four weeks while the city fast-tracks planning, servicing and designing the identified site in Delft.
Plato said: "We estimate that we will be able to begin moving people on to the new site within three to four weeks, and we will supply them with emergency building kits."
They expected the "temporary arrangement to remain in place for approximately two years".
He said putting people into community halls was not an option as halls were fully booked for the rest of the year.
At his press conference Rasool said 400 of the Delft evictees were in fact due to receive the houses they had invaded.
Had December's illegal invasion not taken place, they would have moved into their new homes by now. Now they would have to wait while the houses were repaired.
Housing agent Thubelisha Homes estimates it will cost R20-million to repair the homes and it will be weeks before the intended recipients, 70 percent of whom are currently living in the temporary relocation area known as Tsunami, in Delft, and the 30 percent that are backyard dwellers, can move in.
Rasool blamed the DA for the invasion and said the issue was likely to be used by the party in the run-up to next year's elections.
For this reason the province would institute a civil claim of at least R20-million against DA councillor Frank Martin and his party, if he was found guilty of inciting people to occupy the houses in December.
"In 1994 it was the invasion of Tafelsig, in 1999 it was Lost City, in 2005 it was Bokmakierie and now it is Delft," Rasool said. "We cannot have the fears of 300 000 exploited."
In a scathing attack on mayor Helen Zille, the director general of the Department of Housing, Itumeleng Kotsoane, said: "Instead of condemning her rogue councillor for inciting racial tensions and leading poor people into breaking the law, Zille attempts to deflect attention by attacking the national housing policy."
In a statement Zille said Rasool's threat to sue the DA for allegedly encouraging land invasions in Delft was "just posturing".
Meanwhile, the plight of the evictees remained tense and chaotic in the area yesterday.
A woman pregnant with twins collapsed in front of a Weekend Argus team, children used the sidewalk as a toilet and an elderly couple complained of sleeping on a dusty Delft pavement.
As people clamoured to get hold of supplies from relief organisations, matters began to look ugly. Some accused others of taking too much and heated words were exchanged as people jostled for food, blankets and clothing.
In the ensuing scuffle the pregnant woman collapsed and started moaning while clutching her stomach. But Jamiela Davids, who is expecting twins, was only five months pregnant despite her discomfort.
One man, Wayne Williams, said two women had given birth on the pavement earlier in the week.
It has also emerged that 400 of the people who were evicted from the Delft houses are due to be recipients of the very homes they invaded and which have subsequently been vandalised.
And with elections looming next year, Premier Ebrahim Rasool has accused the DA of again using the emotional issue of housing and people's fears as an electioneering tool.
On Friday Rasool and two MECs, Richard Dyantyi and Kholeka Mqulwana, outlined an emergency rescue package for the evicted people.
However, the province's role is to advise and provide funds, but municipalities ultimately have the authority to implement the plans.
Hot on the heels of the premier's press conference, the city issued a press release outlining its own rescue package, markedly different from the province's.
On Wednesday the province said while it was preparing land it wanted the city to make community halls available where the evicted people could be housed and fed, and have access to medical and social services.
The province also asked the council to place chemical toilets and water facilities there, and provide trucks to transport people who had alternative accommodation.
But the city has a different plan. Mayoral committee member for housing Dan Plato said the city would put up hundreds of tents on the edge of the building site while alternative land is being made available. Ninety chemical toilets had been placed on the road reserve, water standpipes had been installed and skips would be brought in for waste removal.
It is expected the residents will live in the tents for up to four weeks while the city fast-tracks planning, servicing and designing the identified site in Delft.
Plato said: "We estimate that we will be able to begin moving people on to the new site within three to four weeks, and we will supply them with emergency building kits."
They expected the "temporary arrangement to remain in place for approximately two years".
He said putting people into community halls was not an option as halls were fully booked for the rest of the year.
At his press conference Rasool said 400 of the Delft evictees were in fact due to receive the houses they had invaded.
Had December's illegal invasion not taken place, they would have moved into their new homes by now. Now they would have to wait while the houses were repaired.
Housing agent Thubelisha Homes estimates it will cost R20-million to repair the homes and it will be weeks before the intended recipients, 70 percent of whom are currently living in the temporary relocation area known as Tsunami, in Delft, and the 30 percent that are backyard dwellers, can move in.
Rasool blamed the DA for the invasion and said the issue was likely to be used by the party in the run-up to next year's elections.
For this reason the province would institute a civil claim of at least R20-million against DA councillor Frank Martin and his party, if he was found guilty of inciting people to occupy the houses in December.
"In 1994 it was the invasion of Tafelsig, in 1999 it was Lost City, in 2005 it was Bokmakierie and now it is Delft," Rasool said. "We cannot have the fears of 300 000 exploited."
In a scathing attack on mayor Helen Zille, the director general of the Department of Housing, Itumeleng Kotsoane, said: "Instead of condemning her rogue councillor for inciting racial tensions and leading poor people into breaking the law, Zille attempts to deflect attention by attacking the national housing policy."
In a statement Zille said Rasool's threat to sue the DA for allegedly encouraging land invasions in Delft was "just posturing".
Meanwhile, the plight of the evictees remained tense and chaotic in the area yesterday.
A woman pregnant with twins collapsed in front of a Weekend Argus team, children used the sidewalk as a toilet and an elderly couple complained of sleeping on a dusty Delft pavement.
As people clamoured to get hold of supplies from relief organisations, matters began to look ugly. Some accused others of taking too much and heated words were exchanged as people jostled for food, blankets and clothing.
In the ensuing scuffle the pregnant woman collapsed and started moaning while clutching her stomach. But Jamiela Davids, who is expecting twins, was only five months pregnant despite her discomfort.
One man, Wayne Williams, said two women had given birth on the pavement earlier in the week.
"Look at the street, full of shacks. Is this life in the new South Africa?" said one evictee.- Cape Argus
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