The City of Tshwane has expressed concern over the massive mushrooming of informal settlements dotted around the vast metro.
Tshwane MMC for Housing and Human Settlements, Aaron Maluleka said there are unscrupulous people selling land to desperate families. The land barrons also make money through illegal connections of electricity and water.
“We are sitting at 575 (informal settlements) because there has been a spike on land invasion. What we have seen is shack farming. It is people profiteering out of the plight of the poor. They get in there and become law unto themselves. They are charging people for electricity, they demand protection fee from those that are in need of stands,” Maluleka said in an interview with broadcaster Newzroom Afrika on Tuesday.
As more people migrate towards urban areas, seeking economic opportunities, Maluleke said the hunger for land is growing significantly, resulting in the boon for the land barons.
“We are dealing with a rapid growth of people that need to have land spaces. In the process, we are also having people that are taking advantage of the poor. We have what we call informal townships. If you drive around the city here, you find people living in developed houses but these are not people living in proclaimed areas. Someone came in and sold stands for R30,000 or R50,000 and they develop expensive houses,” said Maluleka.
He said once people are staying in those informal townships, they rely on stealing utilities like water and electricity through illegal connections.
The people who buy land from the unscrupulous land barons are given land to build houses on flood lines or on wetlands.
In other instances, Maluleka said land owners agree for people to invade their land and start informal settlements because they know government will soon come and buy that land.
“We have an obligation in terms of our Constitution, section 26 dictates that we must provide for people that are living in these informal settlements. We have taken it upon ourselves to take a by-law to Council that will assist us to prohibit, also to discourage people that would want to enter our sites and invade them. We want to work with them, throw them into our masterplan that shows areas that we want to develop,” said Maluleka.
“At the end of the day, we are spending R300 million on water tankers, and we are spending R60 million on chemical toilets in a financial year. This is not sustainable in terms of our financial situation.”
He said the municipality is planning to work closely with people who genuinely need land to provide them with serviced stands.
Pretoria News reported on Monday that a new development in Carmel Park informal settlement in Ekangala will provide service stands to the local community, paving the way for low-cost housing, educational facilities and a clinic.
Maluleka, announced that the municipality has partnered with the Gauteng provincial government to construct top structures for low-cost housing for informal settlement dwellers.
He emphasised the project's significance, stating that it is a lifeline for community members who have long been waiting for public housing.
“This development is a lifeline for community members who have long been on the waiting list for public housing and are eager for opportunities to build a better future,” he said.
However, Maluleka expressed concern about recent spikes in land invasions in the Ekangala area, which hinder community development and burden resources.
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