Mixed bag situation
It has been a while. A lot has happened in my life, our country and Komani. So where does one start?
Two Sundays ago the people of Komani started portioning available land among themselves, which caught the lead-footed Enoch Mgijima Municipality off-guard. I am not surprised this has happened as the quest for plots for people to build homes has been a longstanding cry of residents.
Just drive up the N6 and look to your right at the village of Ndlovukazi and you will see a sprawling new settlement taking shape. This is happening without any involvement of the municipality, which has been sleeping on the job.
In Sada on the open space between Emadakeni and Ekuphumleni, people have since last year been carving up plots for themselves and the municipality has been mum. I have been told that in Sterkstroom the same thing has been happening. What does one make of these land occupations? Are these people to be seen as criminals or people fed up with the slow movement of the municipality to provide them with plots to build their dream homes?
What has the municipality been waiting for all these years? Do they even have a plan to provide people who can afford them with serviced plots?
Or is their inaction, so far, motivated by more sinister motives, those of selling the habitable land to either developers of their choice or people with money so they can get kickbacks? I even heard there were people in the employ of the municipality who collect rent each month from foreigners who own informal businesses conducted on illegally acquired municipal land.
Anyway, how will these people even control the process and plan settlements when they do not even know how much land they own? How would you plan for the future of the town when you have an incomplete asset register? No-one seems to care. It’s a free-for-all.
The question you have ask is: who is actually in charge of this municipality? Who is making long-term plans to develop the town as the economic hub of the district?
What is their future plan for the aerodrome? If the land invasion on the landing strip is allowed to be occupied and developed into a residential area, would that not put paid to any future plans for the development of a regional airport? Is anyone at the town hall even thinking about these things, let alone planning for them? Where are we? Are we in good hands or are we heading down towards a cliff?
We will soon find out.