The City of Cape Town says housing projects valued at about R1bn are under threat as gangs of mafia-like community members and extortionists vandalise or destroy homes being built for thousands of beneficiaries.
According to a report on BusinessLIVE, in just one week, the city’s R500m Delft Symphony Way project, designated for 3 300 beneficiaries, was attacked twice. Contractors were fired on and the construction site was petrol-bombed a few days later.
On Sunday, Malusi Booi, Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, launched a six-point plan to curtail sabotage aimed at city housing projects. The plan includes spending R15m on improving monitoring of projects and security, as well as working with the police and the National Prosecuting Authority to improve protection of the projects.
The city is also offering a R5 000 reward for information leading to arrests.
Booi said the multimillion-rand Delft project was just one of many building projects targeted through intimidation, extortion, gangsterism, threats and unlawful occupation.
Booi said projects amounting to about R1bn were at risk. ‘We do not want to place our staff and contractors at added risk by going into too many details. Last year we also cancelled two civil contracts worth R140m at the city’s Beacon Valley project.’
BusinessLIVE reports that many projects are marred by increasingly forceful community interference or intimidation, extortion and gangsterism, the threat of unlawful occupation and general theft, vandalism and criminality.
Booi said these incidents had not stopped the city delivering services. The Human Settlements directorate still managed to spend about 97% of its grant funding in the previous financial year.
About R2.8bn has been allocated for human settlements over three years and the city has vowed to continue to safeguard the projects and protect rightful beneficiaries.
[Image: Hansueli Krapf, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13293006]