WeeklySA_AdminSERVICES:Council has acquired land from owners for development
By Boitumelo Tshehle
Plans are afoot to alleviate the plight of the community of Matsatseng, an informal settlement outside Mahikeng where local villagers live in abject poverty in plastic structures.
Mahikeng local municipality’s planning and development director Tendo Masia said they were in the process of acquiring the land occupied by the Matsatseng residents from the owners, so they could start developing it for housing.
He said the municipality had so far managed to get signatures from some of the registered owner, , of which they were seven in total. Those that have located own 33.33% of the property.
The delay was caused by attorneys appointed by the municipality to facilitated the sale of the land to the council.
“They did not deliver according to our expectations, so we had to terminate their contract and appointed a new law firm in July 2020,” he said. A new firm had since started the process from scratch because the old one did not handover the documents, he said. The establishment of the township and bulk services in Matsaseng can only be completed when the transfer process has been implemented. In contrast to the version of events given by the Mahikeng municipality, Matsatseng residents were told by the provincial government that they deserve only limited government’s bulk services.
According to the North West department of corporate governance, human settlement and traditional affairs there was nothing that they could do until they received confirmation of bulk services from the Mahikeng local municipality. Spokeswoman Dineo Lolokwane said however her department can only contribute 2% as legislated by Human Settlement Development Grant (HSDG).
The plight of Matsatseng residents were highlighted by Weekly SA Mirror last week. They live in structures built out of wood and plastic.
Service delivery in the area is non-existent and residents live in abject poverty. Lolokwane said there was nothing the government could do because the land at which Matsatseng residents occupied belonged to two owners who now reside overseas.
