Tired of empty land promises

Mkhululi Ndamase

RESIDENTS of a small community in Port Elizabeth are demanding that the provincial government keep a promise to provide houses – and their protests have already led to police firing rubber bullets and a number of arrests.

Leaders in Zweledinga township, near Seaview, say Eastern Cape Human Settlements MEC Helen Sauls-August must explain why the government backtracked on what they claimed was a promise to buy sufficient land to build RDP houses.

The small community claims to have reached an agreement with Sauls-August's office to purchase 91 hectares of land to build houses. They were then shocked when told only 40ha was available.

But government said there was no agreement.