Prasa project a threat to family homes

Land zoning still to be decided

THE fate of 13 families living in houses owned by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) in Diep River hangs in the balance with no clear way forward.

A City of Cape Town report on the rezoning of two erven has been completed and the case of the families is now set to go before the Municipal Planning Tribunal for a decision on the land use application.

In October 2017, Prasa submitted an application to rezone the two erven for what was then thought to be an 18-month project.

The city said the construction of four blocks of flats comprising 197 dwelling units, 30% of which are recommended for affordable housing, as well as a local business two-zoned portion for retail/commercial, had not yet been decided upon.

The families have to decide whether or not to take up Prasa’s offer of first preference for the units.

According to Prasa, 30% of the housing will be eligible for subsidy.

The families have been living in the homes for more than three decades. They will be notified three months before the commencement of construction.

Initially the project had been set to begin in 2020 for an 18-month period, but Thamsanqa Hlongwane, manager of Prasa subsidiary Property Developments Intersite said: “The project is likely to be done in phases starting from the end of this year and could take three years to complete.”

When Weekend Argus spoke to the families at the time of being notified of their imminent evictions they claimed that they found out about the plans through pole posters.

A year ago, Weekend Argus reported on the plan to have the Prasa-owned homes in Avondale Terrace demolished to make way for the construction which “is envisaged to commence early 2020 and completion expected 18 months later”.

Hlongwane further added that the idea to have the housing project built near the station was to provide easier access to public transport.

“Also, the idea is to boost the rail patronage, this will improve the number of people using the Diep River station thereby promoting the use of public transport,” he said.

Venecia Thomas moved into her home 30 years ago with two sons and her spouse who was a train conductor at the time. Her husband, Peter, was “injured on duty in 1998 and had to be medically boarded.

He was shot at Lansdowne train station while opening the ticket office in the morning. Three men approached and shot at him. After his injury, the Thomas family lost all hope of owning a home.

James van der Merwe, now a pensioner, started driving trains at a young age. He lived in Plumstead with his family before he was afforded an opportunity to move into his house for R126 rental a month.

Van der Merwe said he had raised three children in his three-bedroom home, had many family gatherings and has also done some renovations to the property out of his own pocket.