The Rustenburg Local Municipality in the North West says plans are under way to formalise 10 out of 24 informal settlements in the platinum-rich district. The municipality says this will assist to alleviate tensions between residents of mushrooming informal settlements and the neighbouring officially established residential areas.
Reutlwile is one of 24 informal settlements in Rustenburg. It is home to over 1 400 residents with little access to basic services.
“I came to rent accommodation in Reutlwile because it’s near to where I work. I live here because I have no choice. All other places are expensive and Reutlwile is less,” one resident told SABC News.
“We get very cold in this shack. We have no water. We have no electricity. We are pleading with the municipality provide us with water and electricity because our previous connections were illegal,” another resident said.
In the video below, SABC News looks at challenges of informal settlement dwellers:
While the competition for services led to some in the nearby residential area to leave, Motheo Chirwa who lives in Karlien Park remains optimistic.
“There informal settlements set just next to your house set just at the back of your house. And at the same time we cannot blame people who are coming here and just erecting informal settlements because these people are people who don’t have places to stay. So if someone was to say to me personally, do you want these people to stay or go? I’d choose for them to stay. But then when it comes to things like fighting for power, Illegal connections and stuff; it’s a hazard.”
DA Councilor Luan Snyders says the mushrooming of informal settlements has to be addressed to avoid clashes over services.
“Continuous mushrooming of informal settlements has a huge burden on the municipality’s service delivery, which makes it difficult for the municipality to actually formalise the majority of the informal settlements. My issue on the approach of getting the land invasion reaction unit reinstated is that the law enforcement officers are already stressed with other type of issues that need to be covered; issues of law enforcement daily basis work and stuff.”
The SABC News crew was attacked and its vehicle damaged after tensions boiled over in the area at the time of coverage.
