Residents stall museum opening
Promises not fulfilled, Red Location group says
WHILE the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality had pinned its hopes on reopening the Red Location Museum before the end of the year, residents are refusing to budge until some of their demands are met.
Mayor Athol Trollip met a group of Red Location residents on Tuesday, where they discussed the concerns.
Trollip had hoped to reopen the multimillion-rand museum, which has been closed for more than three years, within his first 100 days in office.
It was closed in 2013 after angry residents complained about the shoddily built RDP houses around it.
While the community agreed in May to allow the municipality to open the doors of the historic entity – even handing over a set of keys to former mayor Danny Jordaan – some have since backtracked, saying some of the promises made had not been fulfilled.
Mxolisi Nduvane, 42, who attended the meeting, said residents were angered when Trollip met the Red Location steering committee first.
“There are still outstanding issues when it comes to housing and the local football field,” Nduvane said.
“There is a budget of R1.1-million for the field, but nothing has been done. It is just an open space.
“We told Trollip to come back in January when we have elected new steering committee members because we do not recognise the ones he met.”
Lindelwa Makina, 46, said: “Even if Trollip is the mayor, he will not do as he pleases.
“He said the museum is our history but our concern is that we still have no houses and the museum is surrounded by shacks.
“We want the museum to open but we also want quality houses,” Makina said.
Mayoral chief of staff Kristoff Adelbert said he was confident the museum would open early next year.
“There are still further discussions to take place with the community, but they also want the facility to be opened,” he said.
We want the museum to open but we also want quality houses