Sisulu calls for action against individuals “blocking development”

10th July 2020 By: Tasneem Bulbulia - Senior Contributing Editor Online

Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has called for strong and immediate action to be taken against individuals who are preventing people from being moved into their new homes in the City of Cape Town.

This comes after reports that a group of people from a Cape Town informal settlement have been demanding job opportunities, including that the transportation of the housing beneficiaries from Joe Slovo, in Nyanga, to their new homes in Forest Village, be given to them as a business opportunity.

“There cannot be any justification for interfering with rightful beneficiaries being moved into their homes, particularly at this crucial time when we are all trying everything within our power to save the nation from the impact of Covid-19,” Sisulu said in a July 10 statement.

“Over the past few weeks, provinces have heeded our insistence that they should accelerate the allocation of houses to qualifying beneficiaries mainly from the informal settlements.

"Together with the MECs, we have been doing this because we fully understand the unacceptable conditions in which too many of our people find themselves in mainly in our informal settlements where social distancing becomes a dream.”

Nearly 100 people are expected to be moved into their new homes in the City of Cape Town this week, and this behaviour stands in the way of qualifying beneficiaries and their lives being changed for better, the department posited.

The Minister has called for responsible leadership in communities and in Joe Slovo specifically by isolating individuals who undermine government service delivery.