Stop Stonewalling Residents

Despite promises that District Six beneficiaries would be able to return home in April this year, they are still waiting for communication from the national Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), led by Minister Thoko Didiza, on who exactly and when beneficiaries can expect to return home. The national Department has been silent since July about the progress on the return of many elderly beneficiaries who have been unable to return home since their removal more than 50 years ago.

Matlhodi Maseko, MPP and DA Western Cape Committee Spokesperson on Human Settlements says: I will call for an emergency meeting of the Standing Committee on Human Settlements in the Western Cape to discuss the way forward. It is time that the Minister stops stonewalling residents, put the people first and communicate on the timelines and expected outcomes for Phase 3 in District 6 as she promised in April.

In the span of just four months, Minister Didiza announced three delays in the completion of the Phase 3 development on Hanover Street, claiming that Covid-19 and then poor weather conditions had impacted on construction. While it is regrettable that these circumstances have had an effect on the productivity of the site, if the project had been completed in a reasonable timeframe, neither the Covid-19 pandemic nor winter weather conditions would have affected these sites. It has been 17 years since the first homes were handed over in District Six and justice continues to be denied.

In July, I once again invited the Minister or a representative from her Department to brief the Standing Committee on Human Settlements about the progress, delays, and more importantly, timelines for this project. To date, I have not received any response from the Minister or her Department despite following up with her office. While the Minister continues to hide from accountability and refuses to give timelines, it is the beneficiaries who hope to return home that suffer.

In fact, deserving elderly beneficiaries have approached the Western Cape Government in the hope that they may be able to pressure Minister Didiza’s office into answering their questions. The Western Cape Government has an exemplary track record in creating safe and dignified homes – on time. It is a practice that national government should emulate.

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