MUNICIPALITY ASKS PUBLIC’S HELP WITH SQUATTER PROBLEM
“The Mossel Bay Municipality has sympathy with the plight of the homeless but the invasion of land is illegal and illegal squatting has negative implications for those people already on the Municipality’s housing waiting list as well as for the ratepayers of Mossel Bay.
“The Municipality therefore appeals to the community to report the erection of new structures on open land to the Municipality immediately so that the necessary action to stop the squatting can be taken without delay,” says the Municipal Manager, Dr Michele Gratz.
Dr Gratz commented on the demolition of twenty shacks on Tuesday, 4 October 2011, following a court interdict that was obtained by the Municipality on 23 September 2011 to prohibit the invasion and occupation of Erven 1260, 1262, 1276, 1704 and 3304 in the KwaNonqaba area.
In terms of the order the Bailiff of the Court is also authorised and ordered to demolish any structures erected on these properties immediately and remove the material uses for safekeeping elsewhere. The order also prohibits any person from instigating, encouraging or participating in the occupation of these properties.
“The Municipality at present has a housing waiting list of approximately 13 000 families and it will be grossly unfair to these people to provide housing or facilities to newcomers to the area. In the most recent case it appears that the squatters came from the Eastern Cape. By occupying the land and demanding services such as water, electricity and sanitation they were in effect trying to jump the queue to the detriment of local people who have been on the waiting list for many years. The ratepayers, in turn, have to foot the bill for such services.
“The Mossel Bay municipal district is 2 007 square kilometres in size and it is therefore very difficult for the Municipality to monitor the situation on an ongoing basis. The structures are often erected within a few hours and also overnight or over weekends. It will therefore be of tremendous help to the Municipality if the public could report illegal activities in this regard to the Municipality immediately,” said Dr Gratz.
Dr Gratz said the provision of housing is a major frustration to the Municipality as housing is a function of the National Government. Municipalities merely act as agents for the National Government and are by law not allowed to budget for housing top structures. They are therefore totally dependent on the National Government for the funding of new housing projects.
“The National Government has allocated just R79,6 million to the Municipality for the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 financial years. For the 2012/2013 financial year the allocation is R40,7 million. This is unfortunately totally inadequate as the Municipality needs more than a billion rand to clear just the existing waiting list. The Municipality as well as the existing residents of Mossel Bay therefore just cannot afford more people moving in from other parts of the country and demanding houses and services.
“The influx of people unfortunately also has other negative implications for the community such as increased pressure on the local health, educational, welfare and security systems as well as the job market, crime and drug abuse,” said Dr Gratz.
The public can report illegal activities in this regard to the Community Safety Department of the Municipality at telephone (044) 606-5210.
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