The City of Cape Town wants the 110 families living in Maitland cemetery to move “immediately” to Mfuleni, but some families are refusing to as they fear becoming victims of crime in Mfuleni and being stranded far from their support networks.
Abraham Coetzee, 43, who said he has been living in between the graves since 2000 and has constructed a two-room shack on the cemetery premises in which he lives with his partner and four children, is one of the 10 families refusing to move.
Although he admits his current living conditions are not good, he says Mfuleni is dangerous and far from where he earns a living collecting scrap metal.
The 10 families refusing to move say they feel cheated by the City, as the small vibracrete enclosed settlement, which is situated at one end of the cemetery, was given to them by the City after it lost a court battle with the residents in 2007.
Coetzee said the court ruling required that the City find alternative accommodation for the residents if they wanted them to move out of the cemetery.
Coetzee and the other families do not feel that Mfuleni can be considered alternative accommodation, insisting they be moved somewhere within, or close to, Maitland.
Coetzee believes that going to Mfuleni would create conflicts with the people currently living in informal settlements there.
“Mfuleni is not an option,” he said.
Another resident who refuses to move is Megan Moses, 40.
Moses said the City was in contempt of court by trying to move them without consultation.
He said the court had instructed the City to find suitable alternative land within the parameters of Maitland.
“I refuse to move to the notorious Mfuleni. I earn a living by helping neighbours clean their gardens and houses so going to Mfuleni means losing my piece jobs,” she said.
“There has not been any engagement with the residents, all we heard was that we are moving to Mfuleni and when we enquired we were told to keep quiet and pack our belongings,” said Moses.
The City’s Human Settlement Department head Mzwandile Sokupa was adamant that by next week all of the 110 families would be moved to Mfuleni.
“Serviced sites are available in Mfuleni and the move is for their own benefit. Where they are moving to is much better than their current conditions.
“Because it is voluntary to move to Mfuleni we are still in the process of persuading everyone to move out of the area (Maitland cemetery),” said Sokupa.
When asked what would happen to the 10 families that refuse to relocate, Sokupa said: “we will cross that bridge when we get to it.” - West Cape News
No comments:
Post a Comment