What are we going to do with an airport when we do not have houses?
This was the question from hundreds of angry shack dwellers in Komani’s oldest township of Mlungisi who have lashed out at Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality mayor Madoda Papiyana and his council for betraying a promise to provide them with proper RDP homes.
This week, they slammed municipal bosses for prioritising the construction of an airport while they still lived cramped in filthy and unsafe informal settlements in the township.
Last week, it was reported that the council had set its sights on constructing the Queen Nonesi Airport, which would effectively have SA’s second-longest runway.
The idea of the airport was included in the municipality’s draft spatial development framework plan but authorities clarified that they were in the process of engaging with the broader Komani community to market the idea.
Any advice and comments would then be included in a final document to be presented to the council.
However, on Wednesday, Mlungisi informal settlement committee convener Thandisizwe Mzozo said between 500 and 800 people were still living in shacks in Mlungisi with no prospects of getting any form of decent housing.
This was despite the municipality having reportedly promised to build them safe RDP houses in 2018.
There are now about 10 informal settlements in the sprawling township.
“They [municipality] installed a huge sewer line on a piece of land nearby as part of putting up bulk infrastructure for the construction of the houses for a project called Rathwick, which would have seen about 500 housing units built for the people who live in informal settlements,” Mzozo said.
“They then even put up street poles but the project never got off the ground.
“Unfortunately, now those things were vandalised and stolen.
“Every year when we go to the municipality, they keep promising us about this Rathwick project but nothing is ever done.”
The municipality believes that having an airport will have long-term economic benefits for the municipality.
— Enoch Mgijima municipal spokesperson Lonwabo Kowa
Some of the shack dwellers had since died without having ever had the opportunity to live in a decent house.
“We also want to live like normal human beings instead of pigs,” Mzozo said.
“These informal settlements are filthy, there are no toilets and people have to relieve themselves in open fields, even at night.
“We have women who stay alone and it’s a huge risk for them.
“Others have to use buckets which they empty in the morning. Imagine having to endure that unbearable stench the whole night.”
He said the only time they felt valued by authorities was when elections came around.
Suddenly, they were treated like rock stars by the same municipality that forgot about them afterwards.
Mzozo confirmed the shack dwellers had embarked on a protest last week and later handed over a petition to Papiyana demanding houses.
In the petition, they claimed they had been promised that their shacks would be connected to the township’s electricity supply grid. They also demanded toilets.
“During the meeting, instead of responding to our petition, he [Papiyana] told us about having signed off for the construction of an airport.
“We want houses and we want to know when we are getting them. What are we going to benefit from having an airport in Komani?”
He said the municipality’s attitude showed it did not have the interests of poor people like them at heart.
“[But] they will be expecting us to go and vote for them in 2026.
“As a result, the affected residents have resolved not to allow any politician into their neighbourhood to campaign for next year’s local government elections, unless they are given the RDP houses first as promised.”
But Enoch Mgijima municipal spokesperson Lonwabo Kowa defended the local authority, saying it did not have any housing developer status and as such could not build houses.
However, its role was to make land available for development, something which it had done already for the Rathwick housing project.
He said it was the responsibility of the department of human settlements to build RDP houses.
On the issue of connecting shacks to the power grid, Kowa said: “As agreed in a council meeting in July 2022, the municipality will refurbish and upgrade the Mlungisi substation so that it can handle the load from informal settlements.
“At this stage, the substation is unable to cater for the demand where informal settlements are added.
“The upgrade project is under way and after completion, the areas will be connected.
“It cannot be done at this stage, hence the municipality recently cut illegal connections.”
Kowa also described the municipality’s spatial development plan as a long-term land planning document.
He said there were many development strategies in it, which included the issue of transport development and the airport.
The process of engaging stakeholders and trying to lure potential investors had already begun.
“The municipality believes that having an airport will have long-term economic benefits for the municipality.
“Enoch Mgijima will not use its budget to fund the construction of an airport but will play a facilitating role working with government departments and investors,” he said.
Daily Dispatch
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