Speaking on behalf of the residents, Malizo Dayeni said they were under the impression that the land belonged to the old church house at the back of Asazani.
He has raised the matter of services with several officials in the past and at Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and ward report back meetings, but all he gets are promises that the municipality will look into the matter. "When can we get an answer? We see that currently the municipality is very busy installing toilets in an area adjacent to us. Maybe they will move all of us there? All I need is clarity."
Millicent Tushula, whose husband Maxine Baliwe is a paraplegic, has been living on this piece of land since 1992. "I am appealing to council to help us with a toilet. We are both getting old. We notice that there are chemical toilets all over Thembalethu, but not here in our area."
Steven Erasmus, director of Planning and Housing at the George Municipality confirmed that in the area referred to there are two erven, namely erf 8252 and 7523, that are privately owned. "On erf 8252 there are 156 informal dwellings whilst erf 7523, known as the 'church land', has no informal structures on it."
Erf 8252 is owned by the National Housing Finance Corporation and was sold to former ANC George Councillor Moses Mtila who resigned from council in June 2009. The transfer of the property has not taken place as yet.
Erasmus added that the current owner is not prepared to grant permission to the municipality to provide services on this land. "As you may be aware, services cannot be provided on private land without the owner's permission.
"The 156 informal dwellings on erf 8252 will form part of the Upgrading of Informal Settlement Programme (UISP) that is currently under construction. They will be moved to the serviced erven in the near future."
Mtila confirmed that he has bought the property, but is not the owner yet.
Dayeni said that he would be willing to move to the UISP to get proper services.
The UISP programme in Asazani. Photos: Myron Rabinowitz
ARTICLE: MYRON RABINOWITZ
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