A 14-year battle to get decent houses could soon come to an end for former residents of an Mthatha informal settlement who were moved after violent clashes with people from a neighbouring township in 2012.
The Mthatha high court has ordered the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality (KSD) to provide permanent housing within six months to the displaced residents of the former Tipini informal settlement.
Acting judge Mvuzo Notyesi also directed Eastern Cape human settlements MEC Siphokazi Lusithi to conduct an investigation and file a report within 60 days on the appropriateness of the living conditions of the minor children of the former settlement now living in ageing temporary structures at an old municipal mechanical workshop in central Mthatha known as “Soweto”.
The court issued a similar directive to social development MEC Bukiwe Fanta, who must inform the court if the children were in need of urgent care, offer suggestions on how their living conditions could be improved and decide whether it is in their best interest to remain there with their parents.
Lusithi has been instructed to investigate and report on steps taken by her department to support KSD in the exercise of its powers and duties in respect of the municipality’s management of Soweto in line with Section 7(2) of the Housing Act of 1997.
In addition, Lusithi was ordered to report on the feasibility of making funds available to the municipality for the purpose of providing “accommodation to the applicants and all residents” who were evicted from Tipini by the local authority in May 2012.
The municipality was ordered to pay the costs of the application by the former Tipini residents, including the costs of two counsel.
Tipini, located near Ngangelizwe township, is Mthatha’s oldest rubbish dump.
However, an informal settlement was formed when homeless people started erecting shacks on the land.
In 2012, the settlement was demolished after clashes with residents of Waterfall township, who accused the Tipini settlers of harbouring dangerous criminals.
The Tipini residents were then moved to prefabricated structures behind the Mthatha Plaza Mall, with KSD promising to build them proper RDP houses, but this did not happen.
The department takes note of the court order and consultation is under way. The department will abide by its directives
— Mpumzi Zuzile, MEC Bukiwe Fanta spokesperson
When contacted about the court judgment, KSD municipal spokesperson Sonwabo Mampoza said he was following up on the matter with his principals.
Fanta’s spokesperson, Mpumzi Zuzile, said: “The department takes note of the court order and consultation is under way. The department will abide by its directives.”
Lusithi’s spokesperson, Siyabonga Mdodi, also said the human settlements department had noted the ruling and was undertaking necessary consultations “to fully comply with the directives of the judgment”.
The former Tipini residents told the Dispatch on the eve of the 2024 general elections that the structures they were allocated had become dilapidated with broken windows and doors that did not lock, compromising their safety.
They said they were also provided with one tap by the municipality and no toilets.
One of the community leaders at the settlement, Mthetho Ndlela, described the court ruling as a huge victory.
“We are relieved, but we are still not sure if those things will happen because to our government, we are just voting fodder.
“We want the houses to be built in Tipini; that is our land and we were promised they would give us RDP houses there even before they moved us in 2012.
“They [government] even built us a school there that is still going strong.
“However, the court victory is bittersweet because many people have died without ever getting those houses.
“These temporary structures are no longer fit for human habitation at all. We are crammed here like animals.”
Daily Dispatch
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