Municipality ‘trying to divide the community’

COMMUNITY activist Zola Ndalasi claims the Stellenbosch Municipality is trying to divide the community, after he was left out of a meeting with municipal manager Geraldine Mettler.

Ndalasi said: “We were happy that the municipal manager met the people of Kayamandi but we were disappointed not to be included… we feel that some of our issues might have been ignored.”

Among issues discussed at the meeting were the upgrading of Enkanini informal settlement and the appointment of a “multi-disciplinary professional team to maximise the housing opportunities in the zones that are collectively called the Kayamandi Town Centre”.

During the meeting, Mettler said: “The municipality is committed to provide its citizens with access to economic opportunities – including access to municipal agricultural land.”

On the controversial Watergang informal settlement, Mettler said: “The municipality plans to install toilets and taps on the boundary between the settlement and the TRA2 area.

“Watergang was illegally invaded by the community. This action resulted in a court case, which granted an eviction order to the applicant.

“It is our understanding that the community has lodged an appeal against the judgment… Notwithstanding this impasse, the municipality entered into an agreement with the community, with the Human Rights Commission as mediator.”

Meanwhile, teams from the Beltana solid waste drop-off depot in Stellenbosch worked over the weekend to clear backlogs, after striking workers were served with a court interdict. The workers had refused to work last week after they did not receive salary increases, in line with a three-year wage agreement concluded in 2018.

Municipality spokesperson Stuart Grobbelaar said: “Given the economic situation in the country… the municipality submitted an exemption application in terms of the collective agreement.”