Pretoria – North West MEC for Local Government and Human Settlements, Collen Maine, has ordered an investigation and an end to the illegal occupation of the newly built low cost houses at Coligny, under the Ditsobotla Municipality.
Residents took to the streets alleging that there are people in the area who have illegally occupied the low cost houses.
MEC Maine, who was accompanied by MEC for Public Safety and Transport Management, Gaoagwe Oageng Molapisi, met with leaders of local residents at Ditsobotla Municipal office recently to get to the bottom of the allegations.
MEC Maine appealed to residents with evidence to come forward.
He said the department will do a door-to-door check to compare the lists and those who have occupied the houses illegally will be removed.
“We are not going to allow any illegal occupation and the sporadic cases that erupt in different municipalities must be stopped. Beneficiaries are not going to be denied the opportunity to occupy their houses,” said MEC Maine.
During the meeting, residents also wanted clarity with regard to 107 hectares of land, which was purchased through Housing Development Agency and transferred to the municipality.
MEC Maine explained that the land was purchased for the residents of Coligny for a housing project and it did not belong to the municipality or any political leader.
“The land was purchased by the department on behalf of the municipality and it is expected to yield more than 1 500 housing units in the area after professional work has been done, this includes feasibility studies.
“The project is meant to alleviate your housing needs and it was not bought through any questionable means,” MEC Maine told community leaders.
Speaking on behalf of the community, Vuyisile Mokoma, said they are satisfied with the manner in which the department has responded to their issues.
“This laid to rest lot of speculation, which had misled us for quite some time. We are prepared to work with government to ensure that what we had agreed upon, gets implemented expeditiously,’’ said Mokoma. – SAnews.gov.za
