At least 60 families living in Hangberg, Hout Bay have been promised ownership of the properties they are currently renting. Letters confirming this were given to residents by Cape Town’s mayor Patricia de Lille.
Cape Town’s mayor, Patricia De Lille has confirmed that at least 60 residents living in Hangberg, Hout Bay will be given the houses they currently occupy.
She told them that registration and transfer of these homes would take about 10 months to finalise. Some residents of Hangberg have been living there since 1965.
In September last year 18 people were injured and 62 arrested when violent protests broke out in the township after a group of Hangberg residents moved onto vacant land used as a firebreak on the slopes of the Sentinel.
The City of Cape Town then sought an order from the Western Cape High Court allowing it to demolish all illegal structures erected on the vacant land but Judge President John Hlope ordered the parties to seek mediation to resolve the dispute.
The mediation process led to an agreement between the city and residents that houses in Hangberg would be upgraded, new houses built and the informal settlement would be upgraded. It also resolved to transfer some of the homes to the residents who had lived there for a sustained period.
De Lille says that the mediation process is not yet complete and that other projects in the township were underway. She has committed herself – and the city’s representatives – to forging a peaceful relationship with the Hangberg residents in the years ahead.
In a separate development, businessmen Paul Rutzen and Anthony Stroebel announced plans to convert a disused fish factory in Hout Bay into a market and cultural centre for the community. They say that at least 25% of the trading space will be devoted to poor people living in Hangberg.
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