EThekwini blames Shembe Church for delays in housing project

The Burlington housing project in eThekwini is stalled and the municipality says the Shembe Church (red roof) is partly responsible for the delays. Photo: Tsoanelo Sefoloko

• The Burlington housing project in EThekwini, on which R47-million has been spent, is stuck.
• The municipality says one of the reasons for the delay is the Shembe Church which is occupying part of the land, preventing civil engineering works.
• But though a court order for eviction was obtained in 2023, the municipality has not been in touch with the church, says the pastor.
• Now the municipality says civil engineering works will be complete by January 2027, though the church has not moved.

A big housing project in eThekwini has been delayed for years, partly because the Shembe Church is occupying the land, according to the municipality.

About R47-million has been spent on underground work on the 109-unit Burlington housing project. But the project is unfinished.

Next to the site, which is near Burlington train station, is the Shembe Baptist Church.

According to a July 2025 report from the City’s engineering department to the human settlements department, the land was illegally occupied in 2018 by the church. “The Shembe church was situated at a crucial point of the construction which required extensive excavation to lay structures required for the low cost housing development”, the report says. But in spite of several meetings with the municipality in 2023, the church refused to move to new premises, the report says.

The municipality obtained a court order to demolish the church in December 2023.

But the church has not been demolished. “We don’t want to move,” pastor Mdadi Magubane told GroundUp. He said the church had been using the land since 1997 and did not use much space. Services for the roughly 200 congregants on Saturday are held in an open area demarcated with white stones.

Magubane said the church had not heard from the municipality since 2023. He said the church was not obstructing construction and in fact some of the congregants were hoping to be housed in the new development. Others were hoping to get construction jobs when the houses were built.

According to the report by the engineering department, the failure of the church to move had led to a delay of eight and a half months which had cost nearly R3.77-million. Other problems, with roadworks and flooding, had caused further delays. But the project was under construction and due to be completed by the end of July 2025, the report said.

However the project has not been completed, and there is no sign of work on the site.

EThekwini municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said: “Several factors have affected the progress of the project including the occupation of land by a popular church in 2018… The church location obstructed the necessary excavation and installation of service affecting the overall construction schedule.”

Sisilana said heavy rainfall from 2022 to 2023 had also caused substantial damage and emergency works had to be completed.

She said civil engineering work would be complete by January 2027 and building of houses could then start. So far, R47-million had been spent and R14-million more was needed, Sisilana said.

Luthando Ngubane, from Sisilana’s office, said the matter with Shembe had not been fully resolved, in spite of the legal action. “Legal services is guiding the next steps while engagements with the church continue,” she said.

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