Well over 2 000 signatures have been obtained in a petition objecting to the relocation of illegal occupants residing in the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (Prasa) railway reserve in Khayelitsha to Macassar and Sandvlei.
“We direct our petition directly to Prasa and its implementation agent the Housing Development Agency (HDA) and demand it immediately cease their attempts to secure private land for relocating the illegal occupants currently residing in its railway reserve,” reads the petition initiated by local activist and businesswoman Waseemah Flaendorp.
“Our community is already under strain by a police station that is under-resourced,” she explained. “Crime is a major issue in our community. Unemployment in the area has also reached a new high. Our municipal infrastructure in many cases is under strain. The Eskom infrastructure also cannot handle the strain, and we are continuously faced with power outages.”
The HDA was appointed as an implementing agent for the relocation of informal settlements that have occupied sections of the central line so it can be rendered functional again. This was done following a successful application to the Cape High Court for a court order by Prasa for lawfully relocating affected communities.
In terms of implementation protocols the HDA is also responsible for identification of land where occupants can be relocated to.
“Currently, the process of land acquisition of the Macassar land parcels for Phase 2, comprising Philippi and Khayelitsha, of the Central Line Relocation Project is at the negotiation stage between the respective landowners and the HDA,” said Katlego Moselakgomo, communications officer of the HDA.
Asked if any other sites were being considered by the HDA, he cited two land parcels within the Wedge Area that have been successfully acquired for Phase 1 of the relocation, involving Langa occupants. Additional land parcels within the Philippi area are also under consideration.
And what impact could a petition objecting to this possibly have on the relocation of squatters to Macassar?
According to Moselakgomo, if the petition is successful and considered valid and reasonable it may well have a direct impact on the scheduling of plans, which would translate into a delay in the relocation of Phase 2 occupants (Philippi and Khayelitsha), and the reopening of the railway line.
He explained: “The railway line is a critical economic node for local commuters, especially the poorer communities. It has since been unusable due to the illegal occupation, with informal settlement structures llegally erected along the railway line in November 2020, at the height of the recent lockdowns associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Rail transport in South Africa is an important element of the country’s transport and economic infrastructure. As the most affordable means of transport, especially for previously disadvantaged communities, thousands of people commute to and from to their workplaces, and provides access to much-needed services located in the Cape Town CBD. The closure of this railway line has had a detrimental impact on the economy of the city, which it is still effective recovering from. It has prohibitively impacted the ability of hundreds of thousands of commuters to get to and from work, especially via alternative and more expensive transport services.”
He added the relocation process is conducted in a phased approach; should all go according to plan the relocation of Phase 1 occupants would have to be conducted by 30 November later this year, in line with the current court order.
“Therefore, it will be premature to communicate any official date of relocating the Phase 2 (Philippi and Khayelitsha) occupants at this stage, as the process of land acquisition is a pre-requisite for the commencement of any statutory processes.”
Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makanda said the agency was resuming the Central Line in phases, while the HDA finalised the relocation processes, and currently services were running from Cape Town to Langa via Pinelands and Langa to Bellville via Sarepta. These services resumed on Tuesday 26 July.
She said the Central Line recovery work is broken into phases, and Kapteinsklip is expected to resume services by the end of December, pending the HDA’s relocation plans.
