HOMES TO BE DEMOLISHED TO MAKE WAY FOR MYCITI By Monique - TopicsExpress

HOMES TO BE DEMOLISHED TO MAKE WAY FOR MYCITI By Monique Duval 2014-10-14 10:30 Residents in Wynberg and Plumstead have vowed to fight the City of Cape Town’s plans to demolish houses to make way for a MyCiTi route. Plans to demolish several homes in Wynberg and Plumstead for the new MyCiTi route have sparked a mass outcry from the communities. Residents living in Waterbury and South roads are standing together to fight the plan by the City of Cape Town to demolish the houses in 2015. Many of them are part of the South Road Family Association, which includes the area around Prince George Drive, claim they have nowhere to go and could find themselves homeless by Christmas. Many residents were issued with letters by Kevin Jackson from the City’s Property Management department informing them they need to vacate by January as the houses will be demolished for the implementation of the Integrated Rapid Transport (IRT) trunk route. According to Mayoral Committee member for Finance Ian Neilson 32 houses will be demolished, 26 of which are currently occupied. Plans for a MyCiTi route through South Road were first revealed in December last year. Since then the City has stated the plans were in a conceptual phase and public participation would commence once the final designs have been completed. But plans to demolish the City-owned properties along this proposed route has sparked continuous outcries from residents requesting more information. The letters state that residents are required to vacate by January 2015. Now residents fear there will be a mass onslaught and elderly residents and children will be left out in the cold. Association spokesperson Mogamad Saait Bester says the letters were received in late September and when asked about alternative accommodation, residents were given the option of moving to Blikkiesdorp. This, he says, is inconceivable as families will have to be uprooted. Bester further says the families have low incomes and many care for their elderly parents who receive state pensions. He explains due to the lack of consultation and public participation on the matter, the association will now be seeking legal advice to challenge the City. “We want the evictions stopped and for occupants to be given the option to purchase the properties,” he says. City Mayoral Committee member for Transport Brett Herron says these are not evictions. “These properties have been rented by the inhabitants from the City. As such these letters are informing the tenants of the termination of their existing leases with the City,” he says. According to Herron the initial designs for the South Road scheme was completed in 2002 but the project was halted for various reasons. “This scheme has recently been reviewed and incorporated into the City’s IRT public transport network plan and forms part of the next major roll-out of the bus rapid transit system between Khayelitsha, Mitchell’s Plain and Wynberg,” he explains. Herron further says the detailed route design will be announced at a media briefing within the next four weeks. “A comprehensive public participation process will commence in November, providing an opportunity to all the interested parties and key roleplayers to air their views,” he adds. Residents, however, have vowed to fight the demolitions and are expected to meet in Wynberg tomorrow. - Peoples Post