Temporary relocation areas on cards for fire victims

A STRATEGY to assist people to rebuild their lives after the devastating New Year’s Eve fire in Khayelitsha BM Section is falling into place.

The plan includes establishing a temporary relocation area (TRA) – said to be Mfuleni – and an incremental development area.

Ernest Sonnenberg, mayoral committee member for human settlements, said Cape Town’s mayor, Patricia de Lille, had been leading the process.

A crisis committee and other players, including the Khayelitsha Development Forum, opposition councillors, NGOs and religious leaders, have held discussions to find solutions that would assist those who had lost their homes and possessions.

Almost two weeks after a fire ripped through the BM section leaving 854 families – about 3 000 people – destitute and five dead, the City said it was determined to use the time to better the lives of those affected.

“A crisis committee was formed and I have since been holding daily meetings with them, community representatives of BM Section, and relevant stakeholders during which various proposals for a way forward were discussed,” said De Lille.

“Now that we have had input from the community, further details including time frames, costs, environmental implications and preparation will be agreed upon in the immediate future,” she said.

The affected families would move to temporary relocation areas and then to incremental development areas, according to Sonnenberg.

“Developments will include spatial reconfiguration and additional services with the ultimate aim of providing tenure and one-on-one services.”

He said the move to set up temporary relocation areas was an immediate intervention and all necessary processes would “commence imminently”.

Michael Hamnca, of the Treatment Action Campaign, said the meeting had gone well but he was concerned about how long the process would take.

“They said they will relocate the people to Mfuleni and we don’t want the people to be dumped there. We want a time frame so that people can know how long they will be there,” Hamnca said.

Sonnenberg said the displaced families would be placed fairly early and that details of the relocation would be determined closer to the time.

Hamnca said that he would like to see other informal settlements receiving the same treatment.

“We don’t want to see this (fire) happening in other informal settlements. Why can’t they do this for other informal settlements,” Hamnca asked.