Residents stand firm
DISGRUNTLED Parkwood residents continued erecting illegal structures on an open piece of land while Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela addressed a gathering metres from the scene.
His visit came after days of violence that have seen the police clash with residents.
Madikizela also visited the home of a backyard dweller along Prince George Drive.
Madikizela said during a meeting held with Parkwood leadership earlier, they had resolved that the structures would be removed.
“We cannot allow our people to live like this. If we allow you to live here until we sort out this problem, the challenge is that you will have opportunists who will come from other areas who may have benefited from the government previously and then also join in on this side.
“I understand some people have houses in Pelican Park but are now renting out those houses and are here among us,” he said.
He added that he had requested a list of all of the people in Parkwood who needed houses.
Madikizela said he did not condone the violence, but understood the frustration of the community.
“Instead of relocating people to Pelican Park, we want to find land in Parkwood so people may be accommodated here. My humble request to Parkwood is that we do this in an orderly and peaceful manner,” Madikizela said
Ingrid Eybers, 40, has been living in a room of a Parkwood residence with 12 other people for more than 35 years.
“I have been on the waiting list for many years. We were told to break down the structures, but we are not going anywhere.
‘‘Where must we go to with our children?
“We live in terrible circumstances and they think it’s okay to tell us to just break down a structure that we have already started to call home,” she said.
Fadiel Adams, the spokesperson for Gatvol Capetonian, a community organisation, said they did not accept the proposal to break down the illegal structures along the M5.
“After seeing the squalor, he (Madikizela) still tells people to go back to those circumstances? You can’t have one set of rules for us and another set of rules for others. He is forcing us to break the law,” he said.