Metro accused of wasting millions by purchasing unsafe land

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The land in question is in Marlands Extension Five, Germiston.

During the March city council meeting, the DA tabled two separate urgent motions on the purchasing of the land and the relocation of the Angelo community to unsafe land.

The DA described the purchase of the land as irregular spending and called for an urgent investigation into what they called an inflated price paid for Stand 87, Portion 230, Driefontein.

The land was, according to the DA, originally bought by Living Africa (Pty) Ltd from Crown Gold Recoveries (Pty) Ltd for R112 074.

It was then directly sold to the Ekurhuleni metro in the space of 19 days, but the transfer took place on the same day as the sale, for R12.1-m.

The motions proposed by Ward 92 Clr Tiziana Plaskitt and seconded by Ward 33 DA Clr Ashley Hoods were, however, defeated by the MMC for Human Settlements Clr Lesiba Mpya with an environmental study.

The municipality reportedly went ahead with the plan to buy the land to relocate the community.

The DA argued that the move could negatively affect the lives of the residents and could cause death based on a number of factors, including open mine shafts and sink holes which are already present on the land.

There is also the concern the land could contain a large volume of toxins which could negatively impact on the health of residents being moved onto this land.

Residents of the informal settlement have since made it clear that they are not willing to move to the dangerous land. To demonstrate their disapproval, thousands of disgruntled residents of the area took to the streets to protest against the planned relocation of their homes to Germiston.

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On the other hand, the affected residents of Germiston are also against the move, and they have taken the matter to court.

The Advertiser’s sister newspaper, the Germiston City News, has reported that an application to obtain an interdict to stop the Angelo move is under way in the Johannesburg High Court.

The Advertiser has approached the metro and requested comment and detailed information on the relocation plan, but the Ekurhuleni Department of Human Settlements has not yet commented.

The DA noted that:

* There is a court order from 2015 to relocate these residents from Angelo Informal Settlement, case number 2013/33571 from the Johannesburg High Court.

* The land, which was bought to build 300 houses on, is old mine land which has sink holes as well as open mine shafts which are clearly visible on the land.

* The land on which the homes are presently being built for residents from Angelo Informal settlement will have JoJo Tanks for water and chemical toilets but it is uncertain how these residents will have access to electricity per discussions with the Ekurhuleni contractors on site.

* The land was originally owned by Crown Gold Recoveries (Pty) Ltd. Surrounding areas have been affected by massive sink holes due to the instability of the land, caused by old underground shafts which are collapsing.

* No dolomite study has been done on the land, no environmental impact study has been done and no geographical study was done.

* No public participation has been done with the community and residents surrounding this area in terms of the “Implementing Emergency Housing Guidelines” point 2.4 which is detailed “Ensuring appropriate community engagement and participation”.

The DA further stated that:

* Per the housing guidelines, proper public participation needs to be done with all surrounding and affected persons, and in this case, it would be the residents of Angelo Informal Settlement, the surrounding businesses in Knights and the residents of Marlands, Witfield, Burton Park and surrounding residential areas.

* Because the land belonged to a mine and contains Shaft 14 of the mine, where the danger sign is busy collapsing into a sink hole, that a proper geological study, as well as a dolomite study, needs to be done to ensure the land is safe and stable before building houses for Ekurhuleni residents.

* An environmental health study should have been done on the safety of the grounds the houses are being built on, based on the fact that toxins are used to process gold and could be deposited in the soil which normally consists of cyanide and other poisons due to it being an old gold mine.

*All agricultural projects planned for the surrounding areas were prohibited due to the toxins in the ground.

* There is currently a huge issue in this area with zama zamas who illegally mine for gold in this area as well as continuously break open the sewage pipe to clean their gold. SAPS, EMPD and community policing do not venture into these areas because it is so dangerous.

* Due to many media reports, there has been a lot of conflict in the Angelo Informal Settlement related to zama zamas, which could be provoked in this area.

* There is an operating train track less than 100m from the proposed building site, which could create a danger for the residents in this area.

* There was significant unrest in the Jerusalem informal settlement on February 27, 2017, after a child fell into an open mine shaft, causing a huge community uproar, significant damage to property as well as disruptions to the community.

To resolve the problem, the DA suggested that:

* Proper public participation needs to be done via a public meeting with the residents of Angelo Informal settlement who will be moved to this location or community leaders from Angelo informal settlement, residents of Marlands, residents of Witfield, businesses and surrounding the area as well as Prasa, whose train tracks are in close proximity to the land with the various departments involved.

* The building of the proposed housing development be stopped with immediate effect until an environmental impact study, geological study, traffic impact study and dolomitic study have been done to ensure the safety of the land. -@FanieFLK