BLOEMFONTEIN – The Free State High Court on Monday 6 February issued an interim order following the DA’s application related to work started by the Mangaung Metro on unlawfully occupied land near Lourier Park in Bloemfontein. The court hereby ordered that the metro must cease the preparatory work on part of the Brandkop farm and the land in the vicinity of Lourier Park.
Greg van Noord, DA ward councilor in the part of Bloemfontein that includes Lourier Park, Bloemdal and Ferreira, says the court application comes after the municipality had not been able to provide satisfactory answers about the development that has been taking place there recently.
The scraping of roads and preparations to install services in the area along the Jagersfontein Road (R706) have recently been noticed. The court has ordered that the metro cease all preparations, including the scraping, grading and levelling of the site; demarcation of sites; installation of municipal services (whether temporary or permanent); and installation of ablution facilities or other structures.
Van Noord said this was a matter of the ANC metro adding another informal settlement to the 52 others in Mangaung where residents have been waiting for the dignity of basic services for years; this matter remains fundamentally about the rule of law and lawful housing delivery – not access to land.
“The “dumping of people” on vacant, unserviced land without legal township establishment, engineering services or planning approval does not constitute housing,” stated Van Noord.
“It entrenches indignity, creates long-term crises in service delivery, and directly contradicts both the Constitution and national housing policy.”
Executive Mayor Gregory Nthatisi hit back at a news conference on Monday that other parties, especially the DA, were interfering with the metro’s plans to give those in need a place to stay. According to him, there are 79 000 people in the metro who are looking for accommodation, of which about 35 000 are in Bloemfontein alone.
“We have to take care of these residents. Those living in M-section in Botshabelo have to take three to four buses to get to work. We want to bring them closer to their workplaces. We ask communities to just be patient. We want to get them habitable places to stay by June this year,” he told the media.
Nthatisi warned people not to occupy land if not permitted by the Mangaung Metro.
The court has further directed the municipality to file its answering affidavit by 17 February with the applicant (DA) will file its replying affidavit on or before 20 February. The matter is set down for further hearing on 5 March.
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