Beacon Valley residents doubt whether their local hill of terror will be demolished.
Discussions about the removal of the Beacon Hill sand dune has been ongoing for more than a decade in sub-council meetings, among residents and documented in Plainsman articles.
Yesterday, Tuesday October 25, Sub-council 12 chairman and councillor for Ward 116, Solomon Philander, had a virtual meeting with the landowners of erf 1211 – that is Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) – and two other City of Cape Town departments.
Mr Philander also remarked in the monthly sub-council meeting last week that they were making headway in negotiations with ATNS.
“This land is an extremely complex situation. The top of the land belongs to ANTS and the bottom belongs to two City of Cape Town departments.
“It is so that one owner cannot move without the other, hence we must have one solution together with the community.
“The land also gives (criminal) elements the opportunity to continue with illegal activities and also gives residents the opportunity to dump and leave this land open for all sorts of anti-social activities as the owner vacated the land without a plan to safe-guard the land protecting our residents of Beacon Valley,” he said.
Mr Philander said the community must give the municipality a fresh mandate of what development should be seen happening on the land.
He last met with ATNS on Friday October 14 in Johannesburg and then before that in 2019.
He said that the national Covid-19 lockdown had slowed progress and that he was hoping for positive news about the land.
“A few years back Maccsand applied for sand mining, however, due to challenges this never materialised.
“The adjacent properties or residents were consulted and given information regarding the intended flatting of the dune,” he said.
Last week opposition political party proportional representation (PR) councillor Duwayne Jacobs, for the Cape Coloured Congress (CCC), said that he had initially submitted a petition regarding the flattening of the dune to council in 2005.
In recent weeks Pastor Dean Ramjoomia, founder and co-ordinator of Nehemiah Call Initiative, based in Beacon Valley, has been garnering signatures for a petition demanding that the sand dune be flattened.
The dune is bordered by neighbouring schools Beacon Hill High School, Imperial Primary School, Beacon View Primary School and is directly across from an educare centre.
Mr Ramjoomia also made representations to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Wednesday October 19, stating that the community was being held hostage.
“We are simply asking the commission to investigate our claim that the land owner of erf 1211, that is Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS), is complicit in human rights violations and that our people’s lives are in danger,” he said.
“It is a thoroughfare for gangsters to hide in, escape from crime and commit crime on,” he said.
“It is unsafe for children to play outside because the hill is frequented by criminals as they sit there watching houses and just randomly come out guns blazing,” he told the Plainsman during a visit to the site.
Mr Ramjoomia said residents feared for their safety as they asked that their details be kept confidential and that they do not want to speak to the media.
He said that three months should be sufficient for ATNS to respond to their petition and that the City should hold them accountable for maintaining the property.
ATNS spokesman, Percy Morokane, said on-site equipment had been decommissioned in 2007 but that the company continued to ensure that the property was well-maintained and secured.
“As part of the broader ATNS corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives, it has always been ATNS’s wish to explore various options in relation to the land.
“Arrangements have been made for a meeting with relevant stakeholders which will take place later this month, where it is expected that a long-lasting resolution and or amicable solution will be found,” he said.