People desperate for housing packed the Tafelsig community hall at the weekend but were left disappointed when no council officials pitched for the meeting.
Tafelsig People’s Association (TPA), chaired by Najuwa Gallant, had called the meeting at the Nelson Mandela Family and Youth Centre, formerly known as the Thusong Centre, on Saturday February 16.
The association holds a seat on the City of Cape Town’s housing steering committee which looks at housing opportunities in and around Mitchell’s Plain.
On Friday February 15, mayor Dan Plato’s office confirmed his attendance and that a sound system had been secured. But the next day Mr Plato tendered his apologies to Ms Gallant because he had to attend the funeral of a community member.
Lyndon Khan, mayoral media officer, said the City was to loan its sound equipment but it malfunctioned right before it was meant to be given.
Ms Gallant said she was disappointed that no officials came out. She said the council paid and booked the hall.
Meeting attendees belted out their housing and water concerns nonetheless. A woman, 33, who refused to be named, said she came for answers but was left more confused.
Her older siblings were married with children, her sister had been on the housing waiting list for more than a decade and her brother was hoping to marry within the year.
“Where does this leave me?” she asked, saying she would have to add her name to the housing waiting list soon.
Faldielah Isaacs, from Tafelsig, said her late husband Abduragman had put them on the waiting list on August 6, 2002. She, her daughter and three grandchildren had been renting for the past 19 years.
“Ons weet nie watter kant toe nie,” she said.
Ms Isaccs said she was hopeful that she would qualify for the City’s Beacon Valley housing project (“Housing allocated fairly”, Plainsman, February 19 2018), which was still in the design phase a year ago
The Plainsman asked the City, what the criteria was for applicants to be considered for the Beacon Valley housing project, how many houses were due to be built and when the first families were due to move in. The City, said they would provide an update on the project in time for next week’s edition of the Plainsman.
