No solutions for land invasion
Council frustrated with task team’s silence over crisis
AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL Task Team set up to deal with the crisis of land invasion in Bhongweni near the East London Airport has failed to present possible solutions to Buffalo City Metro council.
City councillors, frustrated by the wait – apparently in part for a legal opinion on the matter – have suggested that BCM find a different approach.
Council has been waiting for a progress report from the task team, but instead of submitting this report last week, city manager Andile Sihlahla asked council to wait until next quarter “due to the unavailability of the Public Works-led Intergovernmental Task Team for the presentation to the mayoral committee”.
The area in question, originally known as Greydell Farm, had been earmarked for the expansion of the airport. However, BCM said “rich folk” had invaded the land, which is still in the process of being transferred to BCM after being donated by the national Department of Public Works.
BCM mayor Xola Pakati told council last week: “The truth of the matter is that we have reached a dead end in terms of the functioning of the task team, because when the task team is not sitting whoever is co-ordinating is not co-ordinating.
“A better approach is what is suggested by councillor Sindile Toni – that we unlock the process politically by directly engaging with the Minister of Public Works [Nathi Nhleko] and the premier of the province [Phumulo Masualle] through the office of the executive mayor, and present a report in the next council meeting.”
Sihlahla said attempts had been made to get Public Works to attend the presentation but without success. Department spokesman Thami Mchunu had not responded to questions sent by the Daily Dispatch yesterday at the time of writing.
“No progress can be reported until the presentation to the mayoral committee has taken place ... furthermore the institution is waiting for a senior legal opinion on the matter.
“Human Settlements and Public Works committed to secure funding for a well-considered legal opinion. It is only on conclusion of this activity that a mayoral committee presentation will be made,” Sihlahla said.
He said BCM’s department of spatial planning and development had no control over the situation.
“The directorate will continue to engage the Department of Public Works and the Office of the Premier to ensure that there is an agreement on the way forward,” said Sihlahla.
However, unimpressed councillors said the report had been outstanding for months now and the matter needed to be addressed.
Ward 31 councillor and mayoral committee member Sindile Toni said: “The unfortunate part about [this is that] the intergovernmental task team has its own bottlenecks because it is not run by us as BCM.
“The city manager must prioritise the issue and look at the resolution of council so that [at] our next meeting we will deal with the matter. That report must be able to convince the council so that as the council we can advise the mayor to deal with the matter at the intergovernmental relations [level] because seemingly this issue has political connotations,” said Toni.
Pakati is expected to table a new report concerning the matter in the next council meeting on November 29. —