The relocation of residents from informal settlements in Mamelodi township to a government-purchased land in Pienaarspoort has been put on hold amid allegations that beneficiaries were forced to buy sites that were promised to them for free.

This was according to EFF leader in the township, Bongani Ramontja, who on Monday led a group of community members to shut down a makeshift office in the area used to facilitate the relocation of informal settlements dwellers.

On Wednesday, Ramontja met with the City of Tshwane MMC for Human Settlements Aaron Maluleke and the Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements, Tasneem Motara’s representatives, at Tshwane House.

He raised concerns that sites meant for relocation were being sold to beneficiaries, contrary to the initial understanding that they would receive them at no cost.

“The challenge that we have is that there is an issue of the selling of stands that is arising and our people are affected because, instead of getting stands for free, they are forced to buy them,” he said.

He said a formal request has been made to the city to provide a database of the rightful beneficiaries of the relocation process.

“We already have 1 001 people who have already been allocated sites and we don’t know where they come from. The leaders in the squatter camps are also questioning the origins of these people,” he said.

Ramontja slammed the municipality for its inability to provide clear answers about the legitimacy of the list of beneficiaries for the relocation.

“The only thing they said to us was that there was an official from the City of Tshwane who was allegedly selling sites and had been dismissed. They also claimed that they are investigating more people who could be implicated in the sale of land,” he said.

He said another meeting would be scheduled soon to receive feedback from the city regarding the database of rightful beneficiaries and exploring possible criminal charges against individuals implicated in the alleged sale of sites.

“The MEC is expected to be present in the next meeting because she is the one who bought the land for the relocation.”

Ramontja said the relocation process has been temporarily halted and the community office will remain closed until the contentious issue of site sales is fully resolved.

Also on the agenda was a need to prioritise the relocation of people who have illegally occupied the road reserve of the K54 provincial road.

Gauteng Transport and Logistics MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela previously expressed frustration over the slow progress of a project to rehabilitate the K54 road known as Tsamaya Road.

Maluleke said 1 000 people have occupied the land where the Gauteng government must build the road.

“They are a priority so that we can make a way to build and construct the road,” he said.

Regarding the meeting, he added: “We met with the complainants who wrote a letter to us from the community that there are allegations of people selling stands and we responded to that letter.”

He said the city encouraged complainants to share more information on the allegations levelled against officials and councillors “so that we can be able to investigate and give a comprehensive response”.

“We have had a tip-off that there were stands that were sold - 10 stands to be specific - and we are investigating that. These allegations are coming on top of the claims that 10 stands were sold. We are investigating who might have sold those stands and who are the beneficiaries,” he said.

He added the Pienaarspoort development will also benefit people from Regions 5 and 6.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za

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Mamelodi relocation halted amid allegations of forced site purchases