After years of struggling to provide basic services such as electricity and housing to Goliath Park – a small settlement nestled between Mostert and Kipling Road – ward councillor Rhynhardt Bressler has put forward a plan to find solutions to improve living conditions.
Over the years many of the private homes established around the old Moravian mission station more than 40 years ago were illegally occupied and informal structures mushroomed up around existing structures.
In a motion tabled at the January sitting of Subcouncil 2, Bressler recommended that the legal status of the settlement be investigated to determine the possibility of formal housing and functional service delivery.
Growing informal settlement
Currently the area is managed by the informal settlements department that provides toilets and water.
The growing informal settlement resulted in a network of illegal electricity connections to the overhead bundle causing the electricity breakers to trip leaving private homeowners in the dark for days or even weeks on end.
A group of residents last year spearheaded a campaign to bring their service delivery woes to the attention of the City of Cape Town.
Bressler says the settlement poses many complexities.
“Demands for electricity are critical. However, the department can only provide pre-paid metres if owners provide permission, something owners with illegal occupants have not done and many others not being traceable. Some of the properties are illegally invaded and others occupied by children of deceased parents who submitted a restitution claim against the legal homeowners.
“The area is very dark and there is not even City land available for high masts to be erected. Owners demand that the electricity they pay for be provided, but the electricity department can only act on removing the connections if they have protection form law enforcement. The names of the connections have been provided for investigation and action. However, none has yet taken place,” said Bressler.
Investigation ongoing
In his motion he urged the department involved in processing information to prosecute those responsible for the illegal connections.
“The investigation must determine who is responsible for the functional service delivery and what alternatives are available.
“We also need to establish what processes should be followed to obtain the alternatives. Furthermore, an investigation on the liability for money owed to the City needs to be executed,” he said.
Insofar as housing is concerned there are occupants in the settlement that have been on housing waiting lists since 1983.
“There are occupants who received subsidy before and some that receive more than the housing cut-off of R3 500.”
Bressler also recommended that the placement of qualifying occupants be fast-tracked and considered for other housing projects.
