City of Cape Town told Scopa that R50 million had been set aside for land to relocate residents occupying the Central Line
Bosses at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) and the City of Cape Town are at their wits end over endless delays in moving people who have erected shacks on railway tracks, making it impossible for the city’s crucial central line to be operational.
An estimated 5 195 households have settled on the Central Line, including illegal structures being erected at the Langa, Philippi and Khayelitsha stations.
This has made it impossible for Prasa to restore operations on the Central Line. The commuter service has been discontinued since October 2019 owing to vandalism, theft and safety issues. Appearing before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday, Prasa said the City was responsible for expediting the process to provide emergency and disaster relocation for the residents occupying the tracks.
Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews told the committee that R50 million was ring-fenced for land aimed at relocated locals.”It is our obligation as a municipality to provide services to residents. We know the issues, and we know who the responsible stakeholders are. We have complied with all of the expectations, and we have made it clear that we will expedite every [land] application we receive and what options are most viable,” he said.
Andrews conceded that the matter was very complex.
Shack dwellers have built their homes on the line, and plans to relocate them have been moving at a snail’s pace.
The Central Line between Nyanga and Cape Town has been closed for about three years.
The line is only operational between Nyanga and Maitland as negotiations with the affected shack-dwellers continue.Prasa in turn has set aside R1.2 billion to recover the Central Line.
Critical infrastructure has been dug out, stripped, and carried off in the affected area, leaving train services unable to function during a spate of leadership changes at Prasa and allegations of corruption and state capture.
According to Prasa’s presentation, the total estimated funding requirement to get the line up and running is R390 million for Phases 1 and 2.
Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the programme require approximately 50-60 hectares of land for the implementation of a successful relocation plan.
Source: news24
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