The department of housing in Gauteng and the residents of Diepsloot, north-west of Johannesburg, are expected to have a meeting at Muzomuhle Primary School on Monday afternoon.
The meeting comes after last week’s violent protest by the residents amid rumours that they were about to be relocated to Brits in the North West province.
The delegation, which is headed by the provincial minister of housing, Nomvula Mokonyane, is to discuss the housing issues that have been upsetting the area’s residents.
“As a political head of housing, the MEC is going to address the residents of Diepsloot regarding their housing problems, housing development and also to assure them they will not be relocated to Brits,” said a spokesperson for the department, Mongezi Mnyani.
Mnyani, who said the meeting was initiated by his department, pointed out that the other main reason behind Monday’s meeting is to ensure that what happened at Diepsloot never takes place again in the future.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance has called for a commission of inquiry into the violence and riots at Diepsloot.
“The inquiry should be conducted into housing policy and practice at national, provincial and local level — with specific investigations into housing waiting lists, house- and plot-selling for private gain by officials, and promises made to Alexandra residents in 2001 … if they were kept or not,” said DA spokesperson Butch Steyn.