School and residents in stand-off over land
Mayor asked to intervene in long-running Zwide dispute
A30-YEAR-OLD debate over land ownership in Zwide has reached a pivotal point, and Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip has promised to intervene and clarify the situation.
As far back as 1988 the residents of Sharpeville – a small community in Zwide – have been promised houses on a patch of land bordering the Luthando Luvuyo Special School.
However the school, opened in 1984, claims the land was promised to them for expansions and sporting facilities, and has called on Trollip to intervene.
The issue came to light during an engagement between the mayor and a number of schools in the Bay at the beginning of the month to address the poor performance of education in the metro.
During this session a number of schools took the opportunity to voice their individual challenges, and Luthando Luvuyo head of department Phumla Mlolomba asked Trollip for his assistance.
She said many of their pupils had intellectual impairments and hoped to become professional athletes as they struggled academically, and as a result sports fields were crucial for the school.
Trollip committed to going to the school to investigate.
Mlolomba and deputy principal Nomonde Jongile told The Herald during a visit to the school last week that the land would also be used for additional classrooms.
“We have 350 pupils and, as we are the only school in the township catering for children with learning disabilities, there are 200 more children on a waiting list. We need the space for more classes, and to accommodate these numbers with sports fields and playgrounds,” Mlolomba said.
Jongile said they also needed the space for workshops to teach pupils skills, like woodwork.
However, the residents from Sharpeville said the land belonged to the municipality, and they were promised houses more than 20 years ago.
Community leader Nomathemba Tshumsila moved to the area in 1988 when only a handful of people lived there in shacks.
She said about 100 households occupied the land, still without formal housing, and more people were still trickling into Sharpeville.
“In 1994 we were told we would be getting houses and over time plans for housing developments were drawn up. We have documents dated 1999 that show the plot and street layout for 146 houses on this piece of land.”
Tshumsila said in the 1990s a previous councillor gave them regular updates on how the planning process was going, and up to 2000 they had seen houses being built all around them, even across the street.
Then a new councillor took over the ward, and suddenly the story changed.
“Suddenly this councillor knew nothing of our houses. He started talking about land that was promised to the school and that we might be moved to another area. But this is our home, and we were promised houses. They started playing hide and seek with us.”
Her neighbour, Noluthando Mkangisa, who has also stayed in Sharpeville for the better part of three decades, said even President Jacob Zuma had promised them a housing development while campaigning in the area.
“In October 2015 he visited us. He was sitting in our shack when he promised my mother he would get the local government to fast track our development. He still spoke to the councillor, telling him to make this project happen.
“But we are still waiting. We are tired of empty promises,” Mkangisa said. Mayoral spokesman Sibongile Dimbaza said the mayor had not forgotten about his commitment to visit the school, and said the concerns over land allocation and housing developments would form part of his visit.
“I think we misunderstood exactly what the challenges in the area were. We were informed about the school, but not of this housing issue,” Dimbaza said.
“Visiting this area is one of the mayor’s priorities. Hopefully his visit can shed some light on what will happen with that land.”
Dimbaza said once a meeting with the school and residents had been conducted, the municipality would deploy the relevant personnel to address the situation.