The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) has resolved that in three weeks’ time it wants another progress report on the relocation of illegal shack dwellers living in the Langa to Philippi rail reserve. The committee met yesterday with the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), the Department of Human Settlements, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and the City of Cape Town for a briefing on progress in resolving the issue.
The committee heard from the Minister of Human Settlements, Ms Mamoloko Kubayi, that a dispute has been declared on this matter. “I wrote to the Minister of COGTA to say we have had meetings and we don’t seem to agree between ourselves and the City of Cape Town. The sentiment which the City has been holding is that PRASA has been negligent in its duties. They should have protected the lane; they should have ensured that people don’t settle there. They have caused this mess and they must sort it out,” she said.
Minister Kubayi told the committee that she has had conversations with the City for almost two years on this matter, yet no progress has been achieved. “We are sitting here with the money not yet approved for roll-over first by the National Treasury, with the project not being in the business plan of the City of Cape Town. I have no assurance that anything from the Human Settlement point of view will be done in relation to that project. That is the rationale and the context of declaring a dispute,” she said.
The Mayor of Cape Town, Mr Geordin Hill-Lewis, responded by saying that the City has done everything in the implementation protocol signed by all parties. “We have said time and time again that we commit to delivering basic services to the new community once it is settled and established. We are in fact already doing that on the train lines. We are delivering basic services there,” he said.
Mr Hill-Lewis told SCOPA that once Operation Bhekela kicks in and makes progress in phase 2, they will deliver basic services in that rail reserve as well because they understand it is their commitment under the implementation protocol and under the law. “The point that I have made and the point which becomes central to the dispute is that the City is not going to purchase the land for the permanent relocation,” he said.
He proposed that the Housing Development Agency (HDA) should purchase the land for permanent relocation of the illegal railway dwellers, as they can do so under the law. However, Minister Kubayi said HDA currently has no funds. “HDA is legally an institution that can purchase land, but it needs the money. They have gone to the National Treasury to request the money; they have not been successful,” she said.
The department will ask again at the National Treasury, but the reality is that there is a condition. “When HDA buys land, it buys on behalf of somebody; they are not allowed to be the holders of the land. They can buy the land but they will still have to hand it over to the City of Cape Town, not to PRASA,” she said.
The Chairperson of SCOPA, Mr Mkhuleko Hlengwa was concerned about the lack of progress. “The only positive that I can speak of is as far as Operation Bhekela is concerned. That there is a commitment to Operation Bhekela and an assessment in the next two to three weeks,” he said.
Mr Hlengwa said the committee will await outcomes from the National Treasury and will also advise the Minister of Finance that the course of action the Minister of Human Settlements is engaging in arises out of SCOPA’s processes and discussions. “Due to the assessment that must be done in two to three weeks, we will meet tentatively on Wednesday, 20 September 2023, virtually, for the purposes of receiving an update on the assessment,” he said.
Mr Hlegwa stated clearly that the committee is resolving a PRASA matter. “Our interest here is the re-opening of the Central Line for the purposes of PRASA fulfilling its contribution to economic growth and development, in the main, for the majority of our people who are previously disadvantaged and presently disadvantaged, living outside economic activity,” he said.
Faith Ndenze
30 August 2023
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