Cape Town – Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille was working with residents of Blikkiesdorp, a temporary relocation area in Delft, to find a solution.
“City officials are working on plans for two pieces of land for qualified beneficiaries from Blikkiesdorp, Freedom Farm and Malawi Camp,” De Lille and the Blikkiesdorp Joint Committee said in a joint statement.
“These officials will revert with developed plans and timelines within two weeks.”
De Lille and the committee had a closed meeting on Thursday night.
The city undertook to spend a month conducting a survey on the number of people living in the area. Locals would be employed to assist with this process.
“The residents of Blikkiesdorp will elect and establish a Project Steering Committee and then we are going to plan the way forward together,” the parties said.
They said they remained committed to working together and building trust.
The Airports Company South Africa’s proposal for further development of the airport precinct affected the settlements of Freedom Farm on its land, Malawi Camp (on city land) and Blikkiesdorp, explained De Lille’s spokesperson Zara Nicholson on Friday.
“This has triggered the need for the possible relocation of these settlements.”
She said Blikkiesdorp was established under the emergency housing code.
Many residents came from dire living circumstances, such as having to sleep in stormwater culverts, or a family who had slept in an old motorcar.
It remained an emergency housing area.
“The City has emphasised that it foresees that qualifying households will eventually be rehoused on residential land located to the west and east of Symphony Way. This has been communicated to the Joint Committee, last night and on previous occasions,” she said.
The process was at an early stage and no further details were yet available.
Nicholson said all city residents who qualified were registered on a housing database, which had approximately 300 000 names.
“The need across the metro is acute,” Nicholson said.
