New hope given to Westville residents
Community appeased by municipality’s undertakings
RESIDENTS of Westville, near KwaDwesi, will find out soon whether they qualify to be on the beneficiary list for RDP houses in the area. This was promised by Nelson Mandela Bay human settlements political head Nqaba Bhanga, who addressed more than 500 Westville residents yesterday.
Residents have been demanding a slew of changes in recent months, with violent protests flaring up.
Demands include electricity supply and the repositioning of their homes.
The meeting was attended by eight councillors in the surrounding areas and members of the Mzingisi Development Trust, a company responsible for development in the area.
But while it was agreed last night that the area would be developed and services like water and sanitation provided, the residents would have to wait longer for electricity – expected in the next financial year.
Residents will undergo a screening process to determine who qualifies for a government subsidy for an RDP house.
“I have taken a decision to see that the beneficiaries on the list do not include people coming from other wards,” Bhanga said.
“It will be screened to make sure the selection process is fair and clean and not corrupted.”
More than 13 vehicles have been torched and about 20 pelted with stones amid the protests in Westville, which started on July 20 and have also seen homes vandalised and tyres burnt in the streets.
But the meeting with municipal bosses brought renewed hope and eased the anger residents have harboured against the officials.
Resident Nandi Giyose, 27, said: “We have been waiting for this for years.
“Even though houses are not yet in sight, the commitment from the municipality surely brings hope to this community that has been forsaken for many years.”
Another resident, Pakama Masele, 50, who has lived in the area for 17 years, wanted to know whether her three children born there would be allocated their own houses. Bhanga responded by saying one shack, one house.
He said councillors would lead the process of building houses in the area.
However, he said, the councillors would not carry papers to register anyone.
“The only time you will see documents is when I return with a beneficiary list to the Westville community,” Bhanga said.
Thembakazi Hlela, of the department of human settlements, told residents that the municipality was determined to implement the bucket eradication programme in all informal settlements, including Westville.