A sub-council official has vowed to investigate claims that City land in Imizamo Yethu is being sold illegally.
This follows allegations from two separate sources.
Imizamo Yethu resident Alchemist Joseph said he was offered a piece of City-owned land in the township for
R10 000 when he wanted to build a shack for himself and his family.
The land he was allegedly offered was in a fellow resident’s backyard in a temporary relocation area the City set up to house some of the victims of a fire that swept through IY in March 2017, leaving thousands homeless.
Mr Joseph did not want to say exactly where the property was, but he approached Sentinel News to warn others in the community.
“I do not want to get them into trouble,” he said, “but I am sure this is not right. I know of so many people looking for places to live and there is something wrong with this and I want people to know or find out if this is right or wrong.”
Last week, in a post on the Hout Bay Organised group on Facebook, Jennifer Adams said one of her employees had been offered a shack in IY for R18 000 along with legal papers proving ownership.
“I am very dubious as to whether that is legal and that my staff will not end up with some worthless piece of paper and no home,” the post read.
Sub-council chairman Matthew Kempthorne said it was indeed highly illegal and called for those with information about these cases to come forward.
“This is absolutely illegal. If we can obtain the structure number or more detail then we can investigate. We have the original list of names and the allocation to each structure,” he said.
“If the person is willing to make an affidavit in this regard then we can open a case at SAPS.”
The Sentinel News asked several IY residents whether they knew about illegal land sales in the community, but our questions were always answered with a chuckle.
