Mitchell’s Plain contractors burned tyres and stopped workers from entering the construction site of False Bay College’s Swartklip campus on Friday November 2.
This comes after the Mitchell’s Plain People’s Forum, Khayelitsha Development Forum, Mandalay Development Forum and Alpha Hive Business had met with the college late last month calling for construction at the site to stop.
Danny Rass, chairman of the Mitchell’s Plain Development Forum, said it had been decided at the meeting on Friday October 26 to halt all work but workers had been back on site on Monday October 28.
“We then realised that the meeting was in bad faith and decided to protest,” he said.
Earlier this year, the college signed a ten-year lease agreement with Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) for the new campus site on 25 hectares of land.
College acting principal and chief executive officer Karin Hendricks, said the college was developing a holistic campus plan, which would be shared with the communities once it was finalised.
She said the recent protests could be related to a gap in communication with various community structures.
“The college is confident that this forum will create a platform for ongoing consultation and resolving ongoing matters of concern that may arise. Furthermore, it also strengthen the participation of the community in the development of the campus.”
Acsa spokeswoman Deborah Francis said they were undergoing a full development plan for the site, which included extensive community engagements.
“Our vision for Swartklip is to ensure that it’s a place where people can live, work, play and learn.
“We want to ensure that it is inclusive and a space that is sustainable in every way,” she said.
Role-players were due to meet today Wednesday November 7.