Residents of Lapland informal settlement, are counting days, to a move to temporary homes, in Van Rooyen Avenue, following the July floods.
Back in July 2024, the Municipality began meeting affected communities, subsequent to protest action.
Both the national Department of Water and Sanitation and the Provincial DEDEAT (Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT), agreed the informal settlement is on a flood plain and downstream of the Tiryville dam.
The new site, ERF 17639, is for 100 families from Lapland.
Babalwa Lobishe, Deputy Executive Mayor, said, at the time “while the temporary shelters are ready for occupation, we are in the final stages of electrifying the structures, before we can be able to allow the residents to move in, however, these updates are important so that we are all on the same page and move together until the situation is back to normal.”
On Monday, the 23rd September 2024, the Mayoral Committee Member (MMC) for Human Settlements, Councillor Thembinkosi Mafana, will visit the relocation site to check on progress and inspect the quality of work currently underway.