communities
27 March 2009
Communities residing in Goedgevonden, Welgevonden and Boikhutsong around
Ventersdorp are not going to be resettled, North West MEC for Developmental
Local Government and Housing, Howard Yawa reassured residents at a community
feedback meeting held on Friday afternoon.
The meeting was convened by MEC Yawa to report on geotechnical
investigations conducted to determine the suitability of the area for a R54,6
million housing development earmarked for the areas. Residents from the area
burned tyres and blockaded the road between Ventersdorp and Derby last month in
violent protest against delays in finalising soil and underground tests for the
housing development to commence .The protests were suspended after Yawa's
intervention and commitment to put pressure for the investigations to be
concluded.
"A contractor will be on site by the end of next week for the commencement
of construction of 1 000 housing units from the subsidies allocated to
Ventersdorp Local Municipality. The geotechnical report recommends that with
properly designed foundations, we could proceed with housing developments in
the area though it also suggests that construction should be avoided in certain
areas. It eliminates resettlement of the communities but unavoidable relocation
within the communities to provide housing whilst avoiding the threats of
dolomite" Yawa reported to the residents.
Yawa indicated that his department will increase housing allocations
annually to the municipality in order to meet the housing needs of its
communities.
Enquiries:
Lesiba Moses Kgwele
Tel: 018 387 3814
Cell: 083 629 1987
Fax: 018 384 5426
E-mail: lkgwele@nwpg.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Developmental Local Government and Housing, North
West Provincial Government
27 March 2009
