Hundreds of residents from Overcome Heights informal settlement, near Seawinds, took to the streets of Fish Hoek to hand over a memorandum of demands for housing at the municipal subcouncil offices.
William Lewis, a community leader from Overcome Heights, said it was time for residents to have homes of their own.
“We are struggling! As leaders of Overcome Heights, we started this informal settlement in 2005 and we are struggling with houses. The mayors and councillors come and go and give empty promises.”
According to Lewis, Overcome Heights residents have been overlooked while people from other informal settlements received houses.
“In Hillview, Lavender Hill, they started a pilot project where houses will be built. What about Overcome and Military Heights? There are wetlands and we know there is a solution to build houses for our people.”
Describing the conditions families are subjected to, Lewis says structures in informal settlements are flooded during winter and many are destroyed if one structure catches fire.
“Back then, Mayor Dan Plato said he would help and now we have a new mayor. Houses are wet when it rains, the places are flooded. People with babies and those with disabilities living in Overcome Heights have no help. How can we sit and wait another 20 years for houses and houses are built around us all over the Western Cape?
“If structures burn, the council doesn’t give material to rebuild anymore. Where must people find material? People are unemployed, they have no jobs and no money to buy material to build a structure.”
Amiena Reynevelt, a resident of Overcome Heights, claims she has been on the housing waiting list for 15 years.
“I think it is time that people get houses. All the informal settlements that have come along, within a short time of five to six years, are getting houses. So, what is wrong with Overcome Heights?
“I am one of the block leaders who completed a survey on how many people, children, the elderly and toilets are in Overcome Heights.
“We have handed in the survey, so what is the problem? Why are we still waiting for housing?”
Michelle Carelse, a grandmother from Overcome Heights, says she suffers from asthma, which makes it hard to live in a shack.
“I want a house because I have an asthma chest and my grandson also has a bad chest. We can’t live in a shack.”
Carelse says the wait for housing has been too long.
“I have been waiting very long for a house. I am glad to be here because we should get houses.
“When it rains, there is a lot of water. If one shack burns then a lot of shacks burn, I just want my own house.”
The City of Cape Town confirmed that the subcouncil manager received the memorandum of demands.
“Residents included requests for housing, drainage and electricity connections and residents will receive a response within 14 days,” acknowledged the City.
