As the deadline draws closer for them to leave their temporary shelters, people evicted from N2 Gateway houses they had illegally occupied in Delft have been urged to ensure their names are put on a council register that will allow them access to government housing subsidies.
At Thursday's meeting with evicted families, DA councillor Frank Martin told them that the city council was preparing an alternative site in Delft where they would each get their own plot, and from where they would later be moved to proper houses.
About 400 families have been living in council-provided tents on an open field adjacent to Section One, one of two areas that people were evicted from. At the time the council issued the tents, people were told that they could stay for only four weeks - this period ends on Tuesday - while the alternative site was prepared.
"If you have not put your name on the register and have not completed the subsidy application form, the city will have to come to you and have the forms completed," Martin said.
Some people wanted to know how big their plots would be and if the alternative site would be better than where they were now. Martin, who faces a council investigation as well as criminal charges for his alleged role in the December invasions, promised to find out what structures the council had in mind.
"If they tell me its four poles and plastic sheets, I will say that it is unacceptable because if they can spend R22,000 on a TRA (temporary accommodation for squatters moved from Joe Slovo), then they can do it for you as well," he said.
Meanwhile, at Symphony Way where another group of evictees have erected roadside shacks, people were unsure of where they would go. Their plight has been the subject of discussions between the Anti-Eviction Campaign (AEC) and housing MEC Richard Dyantyi.
AEC leader Ashraf Cassiem said a follow up meeting was expected next week.
"People are coping. We are trying to organise further relief for them and have already received a milk donation from a big company," he said.
The Symphony Way residents said they might be destitute, but there was sense of community among them. A couple would tie the knot tomorrow and a teenage boy would be baptised on Sunday, they said. - Cape Times
At Thursday's meeting with evicted families, DA councillor Frank Martin told them that the city council was preparing an alternative site in Delft where they would each get their own plot, and from where they would later be moved to proper houses.
About 400 families have been living in council-provided tents on an open field adjacent to Section One, one of two areas that people were evicted from. At the time the council issued the tents, people were told that they could stay for only four weeks - this period ends on Tuesday - while the alternative site was prepared.
"If you have not put your name on the register and have not completed the subsidy application form, the city will have to come to you and have the forms completed," Martin said.
| About 400 families have been living in council-provided tents on an open field |
"If they tell me its four poles and plastic sheets, I will say that it is unacceptable because if they can spend R22,000 on a TRA (temporary accommodation for squatters moved from Joe Slovo), then they can do it for you as well," he said.
Meanwhile, at Symphony Way where another group of evictees have erected roadside shacks, people were unsure of where they would go. Their plight has been the subject of discussions between the Anti-Eviction Campaign (AEC) and housing MEC Richard Dyantyi.
AEC leader Ashraf Cassiem said a follow up meeting was expected next week.
"People are coping. We are trying to organise further relief for them and have already received a milk donation from a big company," he said.
The Symphony Way residents said they might be destitute, but there was sense of community among them. A couple would tie the knot tomorrow and a teenage boy would be baptised on Sunday, they said. - Cape Times
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