HOUSING PLAN BAD NEWS FOR COMMUNITY

PEOPLE in Bonteheuwel were at each other’s throats during a recent meeting over a housing project in the township. Things became so heated that a group of community leaders were shown the door.

They had objected to a City plan for more houses in the already crowded area.

The City is ostensibly consulting a steering committee. Housing is an emotive issue. It is a crisis exploited by those seeking to boost their political ambitions. And quite often steering committees and their meetings are used as the terrain to strengthen their support base and stroke their political egos.

In the meantime they don’t give a hoot about the strife created in communities where residents normally live together peacefully despite their differences.

We’re not in the business of taking sides, but there is some merit in the community leaders’ concerns. Part of the City’s plans involve building over Bonteheuwel’s recreational centres and sports facilities.

And if Ward Councillor Angus Mckenzie’s comments are to be taken seriously, overcrowding in crime-ridden and gang-infested Bonteheuwel is going to be aggravated. Mckenzie says there is no stopping the development in a township already bursting at the seams.

There’s no guessing how this will compound the socials ills in the community. When you start taking away recreational space, then what next? Stop gap arrangements are not the answer. The City seems to lack a clear plan to arrest its housing predicament. It certainly says a lot about the “best run city in the country”.

Peace.