Lwandle inquiry begins

The inquiry is taking place at the the Good Hope Subcouncil Building in Wale Street Cape Town. It is being chaired by Advocate Denzil Potgieter and the hearings are expected to be completed by 5 August. The inquiry was appointed by Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu. Premier Helen Zille and Mayor Patricia De Lille are expected to address the inquiry tomorrow.

Hundreds of people were left destitute when their shacks were demolished on land owned by the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) in early June.

According to SANRAL, the land had been set aside for a future N2 highway project.

The families have since been housed at the nearby Nomzamo Community Hall. It has been agreed they will be moved back to the land they were removed from until alternative land is found.

The first round of hearings will focus on key roleplayers like the national, provincial and local government along with SANRAL and other institutions.

Once the first round is completed, additional hearings will be held for residents to give their accounts of what happened. These will be held in a venue closer to the affected community.

Today’s hearing heard a dispute over the number of structures that were demolished.

Addressing the inquiry, Mbulelo Tshangana, the Deputy Director-General of the Project Management Unit for the National Department of Human Settlements said that three different numbers have been given. “The amount of 234 shacks was given to us by the sheriff’s office. Another figure of 849 was presented to us from the community. Based on an assessment done by the Housing Development Agency (HDA) technical team, it is feasible that only 402 shacks could’ve been built on the land.”

Tshangana explained that an aerial photograph taken before the evictions is being examined to help calculate the number of demolitions. He also said that 928 people in Nomzamo had put their names down for housing.

Tshangana told the enquiry about 200 (6mx3m) corrugated iron structures have been rebuilt on the land as well as an 35 additional cement floors. He said the City of Cape Town have so far provided 20 chemical toilets for households to share.

Tshangana said that his department appointed the Housing Development Agency to manage the process on behalf of government in the first week of June.

He added that there were 2,700 informal settlements in the country of which Nomzamo was not one of the most vulnerable.

Housing Development Agency project manager, Bosco Khoza, said they were positive the project would be completed soon.

“There are always challenges with housing matters, but we foresee that the work will be accomplished. As an agency of government, we were instrumental in assisting affected residents in rebuilding their homes. We started clearing the land on 17 June and started the construction of the units on 24 June. The next step is relocation,” he said.

Khoza was asked several questions including how the the houses would be distributed among the evicted residents and how the steering committee representing the community was established.

The inquiry continues tomorrow.