The Afrikaner-only community in Kleinfontein, embroiled in a legal dispute with the City of Tshwane over a 2013 rezoning application for land initially zoned agricultural, has yet to receive a formal invitation to the city’s consultation with illegal township dwellers.

This is despite the fact that the city has a planned meeting on Thursday with the legal landowners of the 17 identified illegal townships.

Community spokesperson Dannie de Beer expressed uncertainty about receiving an invitation to the meeting, noting that the Kleinfontein community does not consider itself “illegal” given its ongoing efforts to formalise its status through previous interactions with the city.

He, however, acknowledged that, despite the community’s legal dispute, the city had previously categorised the community as one of the 17 illegal townships.

“We don’t have an invite, but remember that the city is actually involved in a legal battle with us. So, I don’t know if they would have sent us an invitation if we are already at a legal stage,” he said.

When asked about the latest development in the legal fight, De Beer said both the Kleinfontein community and the city are “cautiously optimistic that we will find each other”.

“I think matters have progressed to such an extent that a resolution is in sight. It is their legal team and our legal team. They are discussing among themselves, and we hope that the legal route will see less emotion and less politics. It is more about facts when you have two lawyers pitted against each other as opposed to political parties,” he said.

De Beer gave credit to the media for shedding light on the Kleinfontein issue and other illegal townships, making the problems more visible. However, he noted that the community’s media attention has been largely politicised.

On August 2, the city served the community with court papers, warning that demolition proceedings would be initiated if they failed to reapply for township status. The community was told that their initial application under the Development Facilitation Act (67 of 1995) was outdated.

The Tshwane mayoral sub-committee on illegal townships will meet with the legal landowners of the identified developments from October 23, 2025, as part of the city’s consultation process, according to Aaron Maluleka, Member of the Mayoral Committee.

According to Maluleka, the meeting marks the first step in assessing the status of the illegal townships within the municipality, to develop mechanisms and measures to address the illegality.

“Following this, the second phase of the consultation will take place in the form of public hearings, where affected residents will have an opportunity to meet with the subcommittee from November 1, 2025. These hearings aim to collaboratively determine a way forward for addressing the challenges posed by these developments,” he said.

He explained that the subcommittee was established after the city identified 17 illegal townships or developments within its boundaries. 

“Many of the settlements are developed on either council-owned, private land, or land owned by other organs of state, without adherence to the legal framework governing land development and township establishment. In most cases, formal township applications were not submitted, environmental and planning approvals were bypassed, and essential bulk infrastructure services were neither planned nor installed,” he said.

He stated that the townships currently face significant challenges, including inadequate access to water, electricity, sanitation, and roads, as well as poor spatial integration, service delivery backlogs, strain on municipal infrastructure, and safety concerns due to unlawful land occupation and overcrowding.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za

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