Parliament, Monday, 27 November 2023 – The Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements has called on the national and provincial departments of human settlements to help the Stellenbosch Local Municipality access suitable land to provide adequate housing.
On Friday, the committee conducted an oversight visit to the municipality’s informal settlements where it received briefings from the affected communities, the Western Cape Department Human Settlements, Stellenbosch Local Municipality, and other stakeholders on the implementation of the informal settlement upgrading programme.
The visit followed a letter the committee received from residents in the informal settlements in which residents outlined their appalling living conditions. They appealed for urgent intervention and assistance from the committee and the national department.
The Chairperson of the committee, Ms Machwene Semenya, said: “During our engagement, we have asked the province and national department to come back and work with the municipality to develop a plan that will ensure that the municipality is able to access all the services [available] in the departments of human settlements.”
A resident representing the residents from the Mountain View informal settlement in Jamestown, Stellenbosch, thanked the committee for making time to visit them and creating a platform where they could explain their living conditions. The resident said the municipality does not provide them with proper ablution facilities. He said housing projects that were supposed to start in 2018 had not started. The resident said there is no electricity, no running water, and no toilets. Worst of all, according to the resident, the municipality does not engage with the residents.
Ms Semenya told representatives of the municipality that residents of Mountain View informal settlement need to be moved to a suitable area. She said the committee could see that the informal settlement is not habitable for human settlement.
The Chairperson expressed the committee’s appreciation to the municipality, residents and other stakeholders for availing themselves for meeting with the committee members. Ms Semenya said the oversight visit had provided the committee with an opportunity to see how people were living in the informal settlements in Stellenbosch. She appealed to the municipality to continue engaging with the representatives of the informal settlements.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, MS MACHWENE SEMENYA
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Yoliswa Landu
Parliamentary Communication Services
Cell: 081 497 4694
E-mail: ylandu@parliament.gov.za
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