Langa community fed up over land sale marked for a mall

FRUSTRATED Langa informal traders and residents are up in arms over the alleged sale of a vacant piece of land earmarked for a shopping mall.

About 35 informal businesses operate opposite the land on which a supermarket and other shops will be built.

These business are owned by Langa residents and some have been handed from generation to generation. The land was previously a p ost office, which was burnt down during service delivery protests along with an adjacent tavern.

The land is also located close to the local taxi rank.

Langa Traders interim chairperson Mandla Mlambo said informal businesses were not informed about the development or even given an opportunity to comment or object on the sale of the land. Mlambo alleges that there were irregularities in the sale of the land.

Local Ward 51 councillor Nomtha Dilima has allegedly been implicated in assisting with the sale underhandedly.

“Firstly, stakeholders must all be included before the sale of any land in the community and that did not take place. Secondly, by law there is no way developers can be granted permission to build a mall (supermarket) without the approval of community members and questionably it has happened.

“We feel this mall being built in front of our shops against our will is going to kill our already struggling businesses and kill the jobs of many struggling entrepreneurs and informal traders of Langa township,” he said.

Dilima called for the traders to provide proof of irregularities. She said the land in question was not City-owned land.

“It is privately owned. The company does have a local representative. The land in question is erf 1944 and erf 1945. There is a long history around this development that has changed hands a number of times, until now it is owned by Colkru Investments (Pty) Ltd,” she said.

Langa Zone 16 chairperson Siseko Mgxali said there was also no form of communication with residents either. He said he heard about the development through the grapevine and when they called for a meeting with Dilima she failed to explain herself and the sale.

Zone 8 resident Lunga Mvimbi said they wanted recreational parks, rehabilitation centres or even an old age home on the earmarked land. She said Dilima did not act in good faith with residents. Diima disputed this. “I personally introduced the development at a public meeting which was held on March 27, 2018, at the Langa Community Hall. The Business Forum members who attended that meeting requested to meet with the developer separately. The meeting emphasised that the Project Steering Committee will have community representation.”

A RESIDENT SAID THEY WANTED RECREATIONAL PARKS OR AN OLD AGE HOME ON THE LAND