KZN to provide basics to settlement

2011-12-12 16:44

Pietermaritzburg - Residents of an informal settlement near Howick who have been threatened with eviction for two-and-a-half years must have land, water and sanitation provided to them by their local municipality by December 22.

This is according to the Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement of SA and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI), which issued a joint statement following a court order in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court on Monday.

"The residents are to be provided land, shelter and services [by the uMngeni Municipality] by 22 December 2011, with a target date of 6 January 2012 for their relocation," they said.

They added that the order was granted by agreement between the residents of Tumbleweed and the municipality after the municipality applied to evict the residents to make way for a new school.

S'bu Zikode, former president of Abahlali baseMjondolo, said: "We wish that other municipalities, especially metros like eThekwini, can follow the example of uMngeni.

"If small, rural municipalities can respect and fulfil poor people's rights to housing and engage so successfully with shack dwellers, there is no excuse for metros."

- SAPA