Residents of long-standing illegal townships in Tshwane, some dating back to 2002, may be required to pay for bulk services like water and sanitation infrastructure if the municipal council decides to formally recognise them as townships.

The City of Tshwane has identified at least 17 developments, including luxury mansion projects, as illegal townships. 

These areas include Leeuwfontein, Kleinfontein, Moshate Gardens, Marula View, Mooikloof, Wallmannsthal, Haakoringboom, Onderstepoort, Elansfontein Plots, and Moloto City.

Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya acknowledged the complexity of the issue, which has been ongoing since 2002. 

“The complexity has become so large that we have had the problem for so long (and) that we can’t then resolve it within two months,” she said.

She explained that a sub-mayoral committee has been established to address the issue of the illegal townships collectively, and has submitted a preliminary report outlining their assessment.  

Moya said the municipality is bound by by-laws and legislation, outlining specific prerequisites that a development must meet in order to establish a settlement.

“Now that we have these preliminary recommendations, there are some illegal townships that can be normalised in terms of their preliminary assessment, but there are those illegal townships that don’t have bulk infrastructure where they are.”

She said they are working on a by-law to address the issue, specifically for developments on the urban edge. 

Moya said the mayoral committee will present recommendations to the council, providing options based on the assessment and relevant legislation to guide their decision-making.

She emphasised that one of the key tasks is to engage with the leadership of these illegal townships, mentioning specific areas like Moshate Gardens in Ga-Rankuwa and Leeuwfontein, which feature luxury mansions. 

She said while it is tempting to normalise these areas, a clear message needs to be sent to residents and so-called developers, who are grabbing land with hopes of leniency.

“Most of the illegal townships are built on private land and as the council we will have to be very circumspect. What is the message that we are sending to potential criminals, who may be saying if they can get away with it, we will also get away with it,” Moya said.

She said one of the terms of reference of the mayoral sub-committee involves engaging with the leadership in the affected townships and informing them that one of the proposed recommendations is for residents to contribute financially towards installation of bulk infrastructure.

“If they will get to be normalised, how will they contribute to bulk infrastructure? How will they contribute to the bulk because that bulk cannot be paid for by other residents while they have done something criminal,” she said.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za

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