An absurd tangle of events has emerged at Bapsfontein where 3 000 families were forced to move to a new informal settlement established at Chief Albert Luthuli Park adjacent to Putfontein, 43 kilometres away.
First of all the Bapsfontein area had been declared a disaster area more than 16 years ago but council officials decided to relocate the families a few days before Christmas this year.
The Ekurhuleni council is entitled to relocate the people for periods of up to three months in terms of the temporary relocation order and this means that the entire group will have to move again by March 2011.
Finally, the residents who live in Putfontein had been told that they were not allowed to erect any additional structures but then the council overturned its own ruling and moved 3 000 new families into the area.
Residents in Chief Albert Luthuli Park were angry about the move and demanded that they now be allowed to erect additional shacks in their own backyards within the RDP housing settlement.
The Ekurhuleni major, Mondli Gungubele tried to explain the reason for the move but the disgruntled crowd shouted him down. The meeting was disbanded and the residents dispersed.
Benno Robinson, councillor for Ward 24 accused the council of acting in an inhumane way by forcing people to move to a temporary informal settlement shortly before Christmas and destroying their homes in the process.
Ekurhuleni spokesman Zweli Dlamini defended the council’s action saying that the choice was to “save people’s lives” and that the council had acted within the confines of the law.
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