CAPE TOWN — The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has become the centre of a political firestorm following the eviction of people from its land in the Western Cape and allegations that it has ordered Gauteng traffic officials to take the personal details of motorists who do not have e-tags.
By Tuesday afternoon the situation on Sanral’s land in the Western Cape had become so serious that it needed the intervention of Transport Minister Dipuo Peters and Human Settlement Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who addressed the community.
This is the first political hot potato to test President Jacob Zuma’s new Cabinet and the Democratic Alliance (DA)-run Western Cape provincial government and Cape Town.
Department of Transport spokesman Tiyani Rikhotso said on Tuesday that Sanral had clear evidence that Cape Town prevented the acquisition of an alternative piece of land for the relocation of communities living inside the N2 road reserve.
"It is obvious that they used the issue of toll roads in the Western Cape as an excuse to terminate discussions on the issue."
He said negotiations between Sanral, Cape Town and private developers had been cut short by the city in an e-mail message dated August 31 2011.
State-owned company Sanral, responsible for developing South Africa’s roads network, has become a whipping boy of public opinion due to the imposition of the unpopular Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project that requires motorists to buy e-tags to use the province’s highways.
Sanral also has plans to develop e-tolls in the Western Cape and in KwaZulu-Natal. Both projects have been met with opposition.
Sanral is under severe financial pressure as it has bonds of R20bn for the Gauteng freeway project. Most of the loan is by the Government Employees Pension Fund.
Earlier this week the Advertising Standards Authority ruled against Sanral radio advert s, saying they were misleading.
The evictions in the Western Cape started on Monday evening when the sheriff of the court began to remove residents from Sanral’s land in the Lwandle informal settlement in Strand and were met with petrol bombs and burning tyres.
The evictions have stoked a blame game between the DA-run city administration and Western Cape provincial government, and the African National Congress (ANC) -run national government.
Ms Peters told the Lwandle community last night that the problem had been bubbling since 2003 and that Cape Town had had an "issue against Sanral".
She was referring to the high court order placing the tolling of the N2 and N1 highways in the Western Cape on hold.
Cape Town said the evictions were the enforcement of a Western Cape High Court order granted earlier this year to Sanral.
Cape Town’s human settlements mayoral committee member Siyabulela Mamkeli said the city had repeatedly urged Sanral to protect their land against land invasions.
"As the land in question is owned by Sanral, the city has not been responsible for policing these informal settlements.
"Sanral appointed a private company to ensure that no further growth of the informal settlement takes place, but new structures have continued to be built on the Sanral land," Mr Mamkeli said.
The city decided to make community facilities available for one week to people affected by Sanral’s legal action, he said.
Ms Peters said Ms Sisulu would meet with Western Cape MEC for human settlements Bonginkosi Madikizela soon to find a longer-term solution for the residents.
The ANC Western Cape issued a statement yesterday calling for a stop to the evictions and saying that the DA was punishing the people for not voting for them.
The DA hit back that "attempts by the ANC to scapegoat the forced eviction of people from the Lwandle informal settlement, by blaming the DA is nothing short of cheap and petty politicking. "It is entirely disingenuous and in no way accurate."
DA national spokeswoman Phumzile van Damme said responsibility for the evictions squarely lies with Sanral and the national Department of Transport.
Justice Project South Africa national chairman Howard Dembovsky said the evictions illustrated the culture of impunity that Sanral had developed as it became increasingly desperate to meet its financial obligations. He had started a campaign to collect blankets and food for the evictees.
Sanral chairwoman Tembakazi Mnyaka denied that her company had ordered Gauteng traffic officials to collect personal details of motorists who did not have e-tags.
The city (Cape Town) has not been responsible for policing these settlements
- BDLive
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