Tshwane Municipality establishes mayoral sub-committee to look into formalising 17 illegal townships

JOHANNESBURG - The Tshwane Municipality has established a mayoral subcommittee to look into formalising 17 illegal townships within the capital’s borders.

The municipality said that some of these settlements were established without following the municipality’s zoning regulations.

This included the white Afrikaner-only settlement of Kleinfontein, which has seen renewed calls to be abolished.

The mayoral subcommittee will bring together the MMCs for human settlements, spatial planning, utilities and community safety.

They’ve been tasked with engaging the affected communities and drawing up a draft policy document that will be considered by the Tshwane council.

Tshwane Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise said that each settlement would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

"They differ, they are not the same. You will see Leeuwfontein, it’s a more privileged people who have built expensive houses but they are willing to come to the party so that we can formalise them. Those which are illegal, we are going to formalise in June, we will be formalising the Marry me [informal settlement]."

The illegal white-Afrikaner-only settlement of Kleinfontein has welcomed the establishment of the subcommittee, saying it would bring much-needed clarity on its legal status.

Kleinfontein has a pending application to appeal the Gauteng High Court ruling, which declared it an illegal settlement.