We the Residents and Rate Payers of greater Table View, including Blouberg and Parklands, demand that you address the long-standing issue of illegal squatters on Erf 1117, otherwise known as Happy Valley, as a matter of urgency.

We no longer accept the excuse that this property belongs to the Department of Public Works and is therefore outside of the City’s jurisdiction.  

As the ruling party, elected by the majority, to lead our Province and City you are “accountable to your electorate and have a duty to instil and maintain public trust in democratic institutions”.

For that reason, we are holding you accountable for a piece of land that falls within your city and Province that is having a detrimental impact on your electorate.

You have ignored our requests (see multiple C3’s logged). You have ignored the pleas by our very active community organisations (Table View Ratepayers Association, Table View Neighbourhood Watch, CPF etc) and you have ignored the epic effort made by Barrie Jarrett who has spear-headed this on behalf of us all. 

Your councillors, elected by us, asked that they be allowed to drive the process as it is “a sensitive issue”.  They were given every opportunity to do so.  Unfortunately, there was no progress and, instead of solutions, excuses were given and blame shifted. As a result, this was once again taken up by Barrie Jarrett and, as a community, we stand firmly behind him.

We no longer accept excuses and we no longer accept being ignored. We demand that the following issues be addressed:

 1.      The registered (legal) dwellers

There are 19 registered dwellers. Sourcing of alternative housing was mentioned early in 2013 with “Wolwerivier” being identified as a suitable location.  We believe that 2 years is ample time to have made arrangements for this to be implemented.

• We request to be provided with immediate feedback on the progress with regards to these arrangements and expect it to be implemented by June of this year with all registered dwellers rehomed.

 2.      The unregistered, illegal dwellers and vagrants

Currently, a reactive approach is being utilised with illegal dwellers being removed sporadically. (The last known activity was in July 2014).  Recently, residents are regularly reporting increasing numbers of shelters being built on this site and increasing pedestrian activity into and out of the area.  C3’s have been logged but have not been actioned.  More disturbingly, there has been an increase in crime in the vicinity that is widely believed to be carried out by the vagrants living at Happy Valley.

• We request an immediate clearing operation to be undertaken to remove all illegals.
• In future, as a known “hot-spot” we expect City to action C3’s as and when they are logged and for the DPU, LE and other role-players to proactively monitor this area on a regular basis in order to remove vagrants and illegal dwellers as and when they occur rather than waiting for the problem to escalate.

 3.      The Health Risk to neighbouring residents

With no sanitation and no refuse removal services to this area, there is an increasing health risk to neighbouring residents.  Dwellers defecate and urinate in the bushes near to houses and refuse is strewn through large sections of the area.  Residents have reported an increase in the number of flies, especially during the hot summer months.

• We request an immediate clearing and cleansing of the area, with refuse and human waste removed and proactive monitoring and action in future to ensure the area doesn’t pose a health risk to dwellers (until such time as they are rehomed) or to residents.

 4.      Securing the site

The DPW were supposed to have cleared the bush, fenced the site and provided security to ensure further land invasions don’t occur.  This has not happened.

• We request that the City address this with the Department as a matter of urgency and drive the process moving forward, ensuring that this is indeed done. 
• Alternatively, we suggest that the City undertake to clear, fence and secure this area and recoup the expenses from the Department. 
• We request immediate feedback in this regard as to the details of what will be done and the deadlines by which it will be achieved.

 5.      Jurisdiction

We are not unreasonable and do understand that there is a jurisdictional issue around this land.  However, we believe that this does not absolve the City of responsibility.  In meeting the needs of its electorate:

• We expect the City  to action whatever possible in its power and authority to meet these needs.
• Where not possible due to jurisdiction or law, we expect the City to drive the process to ensure a satisfactory solution for its residents and rate payers.
• We expect to be kept informed of the progress made and deadlines by which solutions will be actioned.

We are very fortunate to be living in a suburb with an incredibly active community that is more than happy to get involved and play a part in creating a wonderful place to live. Beach, park and green space clean-ups, neighbourhood watch patrols, street committees, maintenance of parks and many other projects are all taken on with great enthusiasm by the public. We are happy to do what we can, when we can to contribute to creating a better living environment for all who live in our area.

We do not believe that we are being unreasonable to expect the City to do the same!