Kariega families say municipality is moving them to a dump site
More than 100 families living under power lines at Moeggesukkel informal settlement are being moved to a site littered with rubbish
Families living under power lines at Moeggesukkel informal settlement in Kariega are being moved by the municipality to this dirty site in Rosedale. Photos: Thamsanqa Mbovane
More than 100 families living under power lines at Moeggesukkel informal settlement in ward 53, Kariega, are being moved by the municipality. But the families say the new site is a filthy illegal dump site.
They are also worried that their move to Rosedale Extension will cause tension between them and residents living in RDP houses opposite the site.
The Moeggesukkel residents say their relocation follows months of meetings with municipal officials. In 2020, GroundUp reported on a clash between land occupiers as the settlement mushroomed.
Each day, municipal trucks have been ferrying a group of the Moeggesukkel families with their building materials and other belongings to the new site. There are no chemical toilets and only two standpipes on the land. The ground around most of the newly erected shacks is littered with plastics, discarded food and other waste.
“We relocate six families per day, using a municipal anti-land invasion truck. They tear down their shacks by themselves, load material onto a municipal truck, and then come here to rebuild,” Harriet Kondile, a ward committee member, told GroundUp on Wednesday.
She said the site in Rosedale Extension should have been cleared and been provided with mobile toilets before the families were moved.
“We also fear that tension between RDP homeowners and shack dwellers could soar. It is possible shack dwellers would relieve themselves on the open field. They need toilets,” she said.
Resident Theresa Van Rayner, who was recently relocated, said she visits people who live in the RDP houses to use their toilets whenever she needs to relieve herself.
“This is the sad reality. I am glad though to be relocated onto this new land because we are closer to public transport. Moeggesukkel is far from taxis and has slippery clay soil,” she said.
Ward 53 councillor Zwelandile Tsotso (ANC) said the municipality is implementing a R2-million project to electrify the shacks of families who had lived in Moeggesukkel since 2006. The group being moved had occupied the land around 2015 and moved under power lines unlawfully, he said.
“We have requested at least 25 chemical toilets from the municipality as well as more standpipes. In fact, there is underground infrastructure,” he said.
Nelson Mandela Bay municipality spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya had not responded to our questions by the time of publication.
Theresa Van Rayner says she has to vist people who live in the nearby RDP houses to use their toilets.
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