Scores of District Six claimants ushered in the new year with little hope that they will ever return to their hometown. Claimants have been hit with yet another delay, this time they are awaiting occupancy certificates from the City of Cape Town.
It is now eight months since the initial key handover date to the 108 claimants involved in the restitution process. The handover was scheduled to take place in April last year but was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions.
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has built 108 housing units in District Six which forms part of phase three of the housing development in Hanover Street.
On 26 November 2018, Land Claims Court (LCC) Judge Jody Kollapen issued an order directing the department to specify the plans and time frames for cost and development of the project. The department is to deliver this to the court every three months until the redevelopment of District Six is complete.
In June last year, Thoko Didiza, Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, said that the Land Claims Commission (LCC) will start an “administrative process” to engage the claimants.
They were then informed that they could expect to get their keys by middle July (“Land handover stalls”, People’s Post, 29 June).
Reggie Ngcobo, spokesperson for the department, says a practical completion of the development was certified on Friday 18 June last year, and the contractor has since been working towards achieving works completion by addressing all defects and incomplete work which has been documented by the professional team and the municipal building inspectors.
According to Ngcobo, a third round of the works completion process concluded on Tuesday 14 December, with the issuing of a “further revised list of defects” which have still not been “adequately addressed” by the contractor.
“The contractor has also been issued with a list of defects by the municipality which they have documented through their inspection processes following the approval of the building plans for the row house units.”
Eddie Andrews, deputy mayor and Mayco member for spatial planning and environment, blames the National Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development for the latest delay.
He says occupancy certificates cannot be issued currently due to safety concerns.
Andrews says the city can only issue an occupancy certificate when all work is in compliance with the approved plans and the National Building Regulations (NBR) (103 of 1977 as amended).
He says although all plans have been approved by the City of Cape Town, some elements do not conform to the NBR (103 of 1977 as amended).
Specifically, Part D (public safety) and Part M (stairways and staircases) in terms of the NBR and SANS 10400.
“This inadequacy on protection from falling, poses a danger to life. As such, the City has issued ‘Permission to use’ Certificates on majority of the applications besides the H3 structures.
“These ‘Permission to use’ Certificates were issued on condition that all staircases and handrails be rectified or rationalised within a year.”
According to Ngcobo, the 108 claimants have been identified and verified in accordance with the prescripts of the Restitution of Land Rights Act.
He says 88 of the 108 claimants have accepted the units allocated to them and have duly signed the acceptance letters and completed the settlement agreements with the Office of the Regional Land Claims Commissioner, Western Cape.
“They will be informed of the occupation date and the management plan regarding the handover of keys as soon as the certificates of occupancy are issued by the City of Cape Town. The outstanding 20 matters relate to family disputes and deceased estates and the Commission has embarked on a process to have these matters resolved expeditiously.”
Ngcobo says the department is working with the city to finalise the process of obtaining the occupation certificates for all the units.
“The department is eager for the claimants to be able to move into their homes and is making every effort within its power to make this happen as soon as possible,” concludes Ngcobo.
