'We have waited long enough'

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KNYSNA NEWS & VIDEO - "If we don't get the answers to our questions by Wednesday (13 June), we are going to take the land and build our houses the next day."

This was what Elsperth Hartzenberg of the Lankgewag Committee in Smutsville, Sedgefield said on Saturday 9 June after the community received a visit from their ward councillor Lavael Davis and provincial minister of economic opportunities Alan Winde.

The community, who baptised themselves as Lankgewag (Afrikaans for "waiting long"), has been carrying out a land grab of sorts since Thursday 7 June due to the many frustrations they have with housing. So far, almost 110 plots of land have been marked out on a dune behind Sedgefield Laerskool (primary school), and a few elsewhere in the greater Smutsville community.

'Promises for generations'
"We are tired of waiting. We were all born here and our families have been here for more than three generations, but still we do not have the houses that are continuously promised to us," said Hartzenberg, speaking on behalf of the community.

According to her and other residents they are forced to live in little "hokkies" (shacks) in people's backyards. "Others are still living with their elderly parents in a small house. That includes husband, wife and their children. And we are all on the housing list," Hartzenberg added. And thus the Lankgewag Committee was formed.

Elsperth Hartzenberg of the Lankgewag Committee in Smutsville, Sedgefield holds up proof from Knysna's manager of integrated human settlements Mawethu Penxa that she can set up her informal home on the spot behind her. Residents marking plots out around her, though, do not have said permission. Photos: Stefan Goosen

What's more, said Hartzenberg, previous committees had failed the community. "Even these committee's kept on making promises, even though they knew that housing was a provincial and national issue. They should have communicated better with us, fought harder for us, and not made empty promises," she said.

As you look up this hill behind Sedgefield Laerskool in Smutsville, Sedgefield, you can see just some of the plots marked out by frustrated residents.

'We will wait until Thursday'
On Saturday, Hartzenberg said, Winde visited the community and pointed out the dangers of building homes on the land, which belongs to the municipality.

"The community was prepared to start building their houses today, but Winde asked us to wait until Wednesday 13 June. So we are waiting, but on Thursday morning the community will start building if we don't get our answers," she said. "We have been very calm and peaceful to this point, but that might change," Hartzenberg added.

Hartzenberg said the community was standing together regarding the matter, and that there had been no fighting about sizes of marked-out plots. "Everyone has marked out the same size plot more or less," she said.

Since this process of choosing plots has started, many residents near the area have expressed their dismay at what the community is doing, and why they have not been stopped yet – all on social media.

Just a handful of residents of the Lankgewag community in Smutsville, Sedgefield, who were clearing plots upon which to build themselves houses. They say they have waited long enough for Knysna Municipality to build houses. About 110 plots have been marked out.

Watch a video below:

Muni 'aware and monitoring'
But one Lankgewag member retorted, "Why is this such an issue for the ratepayers when they have already built their homes on the other side of this dune, and on dunes all around town? What is their problem?"

By Saturday afternoon, Knysna Municipality had released a short press statement saying it was "aware of the concerns relating to housing in Sedgefield and has subsequently engaged with a group of residents in this regard".

The statement said further that following the engagements, the group had agreed not to build on the land in Sedgefield and that they were clearing the area.

"A meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday with the relevant officials and the community members. Our law enforcement officers are monitoring the situation. SAPS has been alerted and is on standby," said the statement.

A resident of the community clearing his plot with a hoe.