The Independent Democrats this week accused the Democratic Alliance of exploiting the poor.
Florence Batyi, the ID housing spokesperson, said in a statement that ”during a community meeting at Westlake in Constantia [Cape Town] a certain ‘developer’ […] tried to persuade the residents of this area to sell their properties for a ridiculous price of R40 000 to him”.
”This piece of valuable land and houses in that area belongs to our disadvantaged people and must be protected from scrupulous people who pretend to be caring for them.”
”This incident also raised questions about the integrity of the DA, which claims to be concerned about poverty alleviation and the housing needs for the people,” Batyi said.
According to the ID, at this meeting the DA was represented by its ward councillor, Leon van Rensburg, who tried to persuade residents to sell their properties to this developer.
”Why did he [Van Rensburg] fail to inform the people about the advantages and disadvantages of this sale and also their responsibility not to sell their houses?”
The Cape Times reported on this matter on July 27, writing that ”outraged members of the Westlake Village community contacted the Cape Times to complain that property developer John Viveiros approached them with a proposal that they sell their [Reconstruction and Development Programme] houses to him for between R45 000 and R50 000. The community believes he is trying to get these because of [the land’s] value.”
It quoted Van Rensburg as saying he wasn’t in favour of the idea, although it was ultimately up to the homeowners, and that he had been accused at the meeting of being in support of the plan.
On Thursday, Van Rensburg told the Mail & Guardian Online: ”Just before the meeting I phoned Viveiros and asked him what he’s about. He then told me that he can rehouse the people. When I asked him where, he couldn’t give me a full answer. That is when I got suspicious.
”The meeting, later that Monday, was pretty well attended. There were a few hundred people. When Viveiros tried to explain his plan, people started to interrupt him.”
The meeting then turned into total chaos, with people screaming and walking away, according to Van Rensburg.
”Suddenly, someone said, ‘Your ward councillor is here and he is in favour of this.’
”That is not true; he did not even asked my opinion. And now he was pointing me out. The people were divided in little groups all over the place, so I started to tell these people that I don’t support Viveiros’s plan. It turned out to be a very bad meeting.”
Since the meeting, said Van Rensburg, ”nothing has happened”.
The M&G Online was unable to contact Viveiros.
