‘Take us away from Vastrap,’ say residents
Fed up with crime and feeling trapped in their own homes, residents of the Vastrap informal settlement are demanding that the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality move them “anywhere but here”.
The protesters said they had no electricity in their shacks and wanted to be moved to serviced land.
The group stood outside the Port Elizabeth City Hall yesterday to hand a petition to mayor Athol Trollip, but it was received by Selwyn Willis of the speaker’s office. He said the municipality would respond to the residents in 14 days.
One of those who protested, Khaya Makalima, said it did not matter where they were moved to, as long as they did not have to live in Vastrap any longer.
“We no longer sleep on our beds. We sleep on the floor because we don’t want to be hit by bullets during shootouts,” he said.
During a 2016 housing delivery protest in Vastrap, a heated exchange turned into a race issue between coloured people in the area and Xhosa-speaking protesters.
A woman who did not want to be named claimed coloured Vastrap residents had sworn at them when expressing their displeasure with the living conditions there.
“The say you [k-word] can go back to where you came from. “We’re going nowhere,” she said. The Ward 29 residents were accompanied by their councillor, Vukile Dyele, who said that since the new administration took over in August 2016, no one had moved to a housing development project.
He said crime had reached new heights.Sondlo Sizani, who moved from New Brighton to Vastrap, said he had built his shack there, hoping that the municipality would one day build RDP houses.
“Since Vukile Dyele became our councillor, there have been no relocations.
“In 2015, people were relocated. The municipality promised more.
“I’m not joking when I say that I’d be lucky if when I get back, my shack is still standing,” he said.
Security guard Dumisani Nxawe said he could no longer go outside after 6pm as gangs went on shooting sprees.
“My house has been broken into and everything taken.
“Bullets in Vastrap are a day and night thing. Police don’t go there – they are scared of the gangsters.”
Municipal spokesman Mthubanzi Mniki said Vastrap was on municipal and privately owned land.
The municipality was looking into buying the private land to ensure ownership.
“Should the purchase not be successful, the families will have to be [moved] to other project areas.”
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