Wolwerivier residents protest against living conditions

AN OUTBREAK of foot-andmouth disease (FMD) has been confirmed in Limpopo, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said yesterday.

Department spokeswoman Bomikazi Molapo said the Limpopo Veterinary Services (LVS) first suspected FMD disease in cattle in the drought-stricken Matiane area after symptoms were first detected last Tuesday. Two days later laboratory tests confirmed the outbreak.

“The outbreak has been identified as an SAT 3 strain of FMD virus,” said Molapo.

Last week the LVS had expressed fears that livestock near the border would be exposed to FMD as Zimbabweans allegedly cut down border fences to access greener pastures.

She said as the FMD outbreak occurred within the protection zone, it should “not have any effect on South Africa’s export activities”. – ANA FRUSTRATED residents who had been moved from Skandaalkamp to Wolwerivier, protested outside the Civic Centre yesterday, demanding to hand over a social audit to the council’s human settlements Mayco member.

The social audit, which was conducted by Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU), highlights the poor living conditions at the City of Cape Town’s Wolwerivier housing development.

NU representative Hopolang Selebalo said they had been trying for months to engage with Human Settlements Mayco member, councillor Benedicta van Minnen, but to no avail.

“It’s been extremely frustrating. For months and months people have been peacefully trying to engage with the City, but we are not getting anywhere. If councillor Van Minnen does not engage we will escalate this to the mayor.”

Van Minnen denied this; she said the city was engaging with the community and accused the NU of hijacking the City’s consultation process.

She said: “The fact that NU did not involve the city in initial discussions about conducting a social audit and how it would be rolled out indicates that there is no desire from the organisation to engage with the City to directly benefit the residents of this community.”

According to the NU, the city moved 300 Skandaalkamp families residing at Vissershok landfill to Wolwerivier relocation camp 10km from Melkbosstrand.

Selabalo said: “Despite spending around R60 000 per unit, the camp is made of temporary housing units – there are no community facilities, traffic regulations, street lights or fire hydrants. Residents were promised ownership, but have ended up as temporary occupiers, and in many units two or even three families have been placed together.”

She added that the units had no boundary walls, thus leading to one’s privacy being compromised.

“A woman can live in the unit with her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s brother,” Selabalo said.

Van Minnen said the residents who were already living in Wolwerivier were in dire need of emergency housing.

“They are now receiving 1:1 services. It is expected that this development will be strengthened as progress takes place in this growth corridor of the metro,” she said.

Yesterday, buses transported residents from Wolwerivier to the civic centre.

Wolwerivier community leader Magdalene Minaar said the city failed to communicate. “We want to know what her (Van Minnen’s) plans are with our community. We see the temporary housing site is overcrowded yet Wolwerivier farm side residents have not been placed.

“We filled in the housing forms in September and the city promised that we would be moving in there soon, but now we hear nothing. We are tired of waiting. We want to see something happen.”

The city is set to meet with the residents on December 23.