Knysna mayor reveals plan for informal settlements

KNYSNA NEWS - Knysna Municipality is looking at developing a piece of land where residents will be allowed to build temporary structures while waiting for permanent housing. This comes in response to a steep increase in land invasion due to a shortage of housing in the northern areas of Knysna.

Last week Knysna Mayor Elrick van Aswegen met with Knysna-Plett Herald (KPH) to discuss the matter after numerous complaints by residents about the increase of illegal shacks being built in Knysna.

Van Aswegen said both legal restrictions and a lack of resources prevent the municipality from taking immediate action against people in informal settlements.

The Western Cape High Court decision to interdict the City of Cape Town from dismantling informal structures that were unlawfully erected on privately owned land makes it difficult for the municipality to act on illegal invaders.

"Before we act, we need to get a court order to demolish the illegal structures. When doing so, we must not break the lockdown regulations," he said. Complete structures that are already occupied may not be demolished.

"It is also difficult for us to act as we don't have resources. We are planning on developing a piece of land for housing development, where people can build their shacks while waiting for their houses. Those that will build outside of the piece of land will have their shacks demolished," he said.

While there is a need for houses, there are those who abuse the system for their own criminal needs, he said. "The people we will be helping are those that are on the housing list and people must not expect government to help them if they are not on the list."

Van Aswegen has instructed municipal officials to look at job creation, as, he said, lockdown and the subsequent loss of jobs have caused more people to be at home, creating an opportunity to illegally erect shacks.

He has sympathy with those who are complaining about the shacks, but stressed that it is difficult for the municipality to act. People are building their shacks at night and when people wake up the following day, new shacks have been built and people have already moved in.

"I urge residents to report any erection of illegal structure to the municipality immediately. We can't act when there are people who are already living in the shack," he said.

Shacks built in White Location this year. Photo: Tembile Sgqolana