Tshwane mayor visits Afrikaners
TSHWANE mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa received a warm welcome when he visited the “exclusively Afrikaner area” of Kleinfontein to address claims of alleged racism.
TSHWANE mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa received a surprisingly warm welcome when he visited the “exclusively Afrikaner area” of Kleinfontein near Tshwane yesterday, to address claims of alleged racism.
According to recent reports the settlement accepted only Afrikaans Protestants inclined to the “ideals” of former prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd.
The reports sparked outrage, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) staging a protest against the enclave’s “racism” a week ago.
Mr Ramokgopa said resolving matters with residents of the Kleinfontein settlement would be a matter of balancing a citizens’ constitutional right to live in an area of their choice in SA, and the settlement dwellers’ right to freedom of association.
“Ons is hier om te bly”, read signposts on the fences of houses in this small and quiet area.
The mayor visited the community to discuss an application by the community to formalise the area as a town, in terms the Development Facilitation Act.
“It’s important to appreciate the history of this country and that we believe in achieving peace through dialogue. We have not come to close this area down, but to discuss how we resolve issues with the community,” he said.
Mr Ramokgopa said the visit gave the City of Tshwane an opportunity to address the formalisation of other towns considered as “informal settlements” in the Tshwane region.
“We have taken a decision that it is important that we accelerate the formalisation of the existing informal settlements.
“This will fall in that broad category. This settlement together with 45 similar settlements in the Tshwane area received urgent attention,” he said.
Chairman of the board of directors in Kleinfontein Jan Groenewald said that the community submitted an application to formalise the area in accordance with the Development Facilitation Act process.
“Eventually if it is approved we have to negotiate with the Tshwane metro council for a service agreement because we are under their authority, and eventually they have to approve the development here and that is the main objective of discussions.”
Mr Groenewald said Kleinfontein residents were a “cultural community” which encouraged activities including the hoisting of old republic flags. He said he did not believe this was in contrast to the ideal of a democratic SA.
However in 2010, the Constitutional Court found that the chapters in the act the Kleinfontein residents wanted to use was unconstitutional, and they may have to revert to using the town planning and townships ordinance provisions to formalise the area.
“Kleinfontein had already applied in this regard and the application process needed to be converted to an ordinance process,” said mayoral committee member Subesh Pillay.