Athlone residents oppose informal settlement upgrade

The Belgravia Estate residents are questioning the City of Cape Town’s decision to build formal houses on Vygieskraal.

However, residents of the informal settlement itself have welcomed the move.

While work on the land has already started, news of the upgrade has sparked heated debates.

The upgrade will consist of 172 RDP houses with full flush toilets and electricity. It is set to be completed by late next year.

Prilain Essop is a resident of the area and member of the Belgravia Civic Association. “The size of that land is very small and it is wetlands. Every winter for more than 50 years, the religious groups and organisations in the area assist people at the vlei because the place always floods. The City is calling this an upgrade, but it is not a safe environment for people to live,” she said.

Essop was one of dozens of residents who met at the Heatherdale Children’s Home Hall on Saturday to discuss concerns about the upgrade.

“We as the residents in the area were not consulted about this project. We are the one’s who will have to go and help them if the houses flood in winter. There is already a big TB problem in the vlei and health risks from the dirty canals,” she said.

Essop said that some residents living adjacent to the informal settlement were struggling to sell their homes. “We’ve got so many people who have tried to sell their properties without any success or they are forced to drop their prices,” she said.

Most of those attending the meeting appeared to agree with Essop. Some residents also claimed that crime had gone up because of Vygieskraal.

But Vygieskraal resident Nosipiwo Kori, who also attended the meeting, said most residents of the informal settlement were looking forward to the upgrades. “It’s clear from our meetings that everyone living there is happy and looking forward to the upgrade. When it rains our homes flood and it’s wet everywhere. Our children are getting sick. We’ve been waiting for this for three years,” she said.

Kori said it was still not clear if all the present residents would be accommodated in the upgrade.

“We are still not sure exactly what will happen, but [City officials] said if we have to move it won’t be too far from here. I’ve been living here since 2007 and it’s convenient for me. My child and two younger sisters go to schools nearby,” she said.

Ward councillor Magedien Davids said that of the current 216 households, only 172 would move into the new houses. The others, he said, would be moved to a location nearby.

“The City’s Human Settlements Department will determine which residents will be accommodated in those homes and the rest will be relocated. We still don’t know where they will go. The upgrade will help us monitor the problem of drug smugglers and other crime. The police and fire services will also have better access to the area,” he said.

Davids said R25 million had already been allocated for the completion of the project.

When asked about the concerns raised by residents, he said: “The members of the civic association are upset because they were not consulted when the mayor, Patricia de Lille, came here. We are in talks with them about this. The residents of Belgravia are also complaining that the Vlei has brought down the value of their homes. However, in last year’s property report, most of the homes were sold for over R1,5 million,” he said.

Asked if he knew how many residents had lowered their property values in order to make a sale, Davids said he was not aware of it and had no record of the problem occurring.