R1-20/FREE
1 March 2013
RDP disaster
Court rejects application
in Bela Bela
Pamela Mohlake’s house was partly demolished to make space for an RDP house to be built. The contractors already poured a foundation for the new house. The foundation can be seen in the foreground. Photo: TK Mashaba TK Mashaba Pamela Mohlake, of Leseding in Bela Bela, is living in misery after the municipality allegedly told her to remove a part of her house in order for them to build a RDP house for her. The saga started in August, last year, when Mohlake’s RDP house was approved, along with some other outstanding RDP applications in the area. Demolished on request Mohlake told The BEAT that her ward councillor, Jeremiah Ngobeni, came to her house and told her that she had to remove a part of her house in order for the municipal contractors to build the promised RDP house. According to Mohlake, the arrangement was that the RDP house would be built as soon as possible within 2012. “They threw a foundation and told me that I had to demolish half of the building in order for them to build my RDP house,” she said. Mohlake said that she paid the contractors, who arrived at her home with Ngobeni; to demolish the part of the house that they said was a problem. Months of nothing happening She said that nothing has been done about the situation since half of her home was demolished. Mohlake said that she asked the municipality when they planned to do something about the problem, but that she was sent from pillar to post with no real answers. The problem is now also affecting Mohlake’s home life, because her children, who are attending tertiary institutions, refuse to come home for visits. “They say they cannot come home, because I ruined their room and they
have nowhere to sleep,” she said. Mohlake is a widow and she said that she could not even go to visit anybody, because the house is standing wide open. Problems affecting the project The BEAT spoke to Ngobeni, Ward 6 councillor, and he said that he was aware of the problems with her house. “I am aware of the problem. There are a couple of factors that might have delayed the process,” he said. Ngobeni said that factors like space and the construction of water pipes under the building could be a problem. He said that special permission was needed to build on top of existing water pipes. The size of the yard was also a problem. “The only way they can fit an RDP house, is if they demolish the current structure,” he said. Mohlake said that this was the first that she heard of these problems. She said that nobody brought up these issues when they came to her house. “Even when they poured the foundation and demolished half of my home, nobody said anything about size or pipes,” she said. CoGHSTA task team A task team from the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA) is scheduled to visit Bela Bela to address issues surrounding housing. Ngobeni said the outstanding houses in Leseding and Mohlake’s house would be addressed by them. The BEAT tried to talk to Matome Sebelebele, spokesperson for the Bela Bela municipality, about the issue. At the time of going to press, Sebelebele was not available for comment.
Freddy Hlungwane
Lucas Nhlapo
Ingrid Pepler
The court order was preceded by a council meeting that turned volatile on 5 February when members of the public heard that Sebola was the top candidate on the shortlist. Residents as well as some councillors were extremely unhappy about his probable appointment because his legal qualifications could not be verified by Saqua, the country’s qualifications authority. The fighting later became so volatile that the police had to be called in. The meeting was then dissolved. Matome Sebelebele, the spokesperson of the municipality, said: “We welcome the verdict and take note of the judgement. The ruling has provided clarity as to how the council must move forward with this issue.” He said taxpayers can rest assured that the municipality will not pay the legal costs. “Nhlapo and Sebola will be responsible for all the legal costs. The court’s judgement once again proves that the executive committee’s decision was spot on.” Van der Merwe said: “Councillor Nhlapo did not follow the correct procedure. As senior ANC councillor and member of the executive committee his actions are unacceptable. He should be well-informed about the delegations to the executive committee and should give more attention to the financial committee of which he is the chairman. No wonder Bela Bela municipal council is constantly in conflict. The ANC should have a serious conversation with Nhlapo to ensure that the municipality will not be burdened with such preposterousness in future.” • The Bela-Bela municipality was represented in court by McCaps Motimele of Medupi & Legong Incorporated.
The controversial court application brought by one of the executive council members of Bela Bela was rejected by the High Court in Pretoria this week. The applicants, who brought the urgent application, executive councillor Lucas Nhlapo and attorney Phineas Ombali Sebola, now have to pay all the legal costs for the application. The cost was estimated at a whopping R300 000 this week. In their application Nhlapo and Sebola suggested that mayor, Freddy Hlungwane, and DA councillor on the executive committee, Kobus van der Merwe, should be liable for all legal costs. The two councillors serve with Nhlapo on the town’s executive committee. Hlungwane and Van der Merwe said on Wednesday they are grateful that justice has been done. Judge Ferdi Preller launched a scathing attack on the applicants because they did not investigate the remedies in the Municipal Systems Act before wasting the court’s time with the urgent application. The court also questioned Nhlapo’s possible personal agenda in bringing the application. Preller also ruled that Bela-Bela’s executive committee did indeed have the authority to appoint top officials, as set out in the delegations. The urgent application was the latest in a series of controversial events at the municipality that highlighted the political infighting in the ANC-controlled council. Nhlapo and Sebola brought the application when Sebola was not appointed as head of corporate services.