City of Cape Town Link

City committed to reinstatement of Central Line

The City of Cape Town has been approached to consider a request by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) and Housing Development Agency (HDA) to approve the relocation of illegal occupants on the Central Line in Langa, on a temporary, emergency basis, in terms of Section 68 of the Municipal Planning By-law (MPBL). Section 68 of the MPBL makes provision for the City to declare the land to be an emergency housing site and suspend the applicable zoning for a period of up to a maximum of 180 days to allow the land to be used for emergency housing. The City has determined that the current relocation proposal put forward by Prasa and HDA does not meet the requirements for consideration as a temporary emergency relocation site under Section 68 of the MPBL. Section 68 (1) envisages the relocation of persons affected by disasters, on a temporary emergency basis; and suspends compliance with the otherwise strict planning and zoning requirements of the by-law so as to enable such relocations on a temporary basis only, up to a maximum of 180 days. Section 68 also obliges the City to ensure that the cost and budget for the provision of basic services at such a temporary emergency relocation site have been secured prior to relocation. The proposal that has been put to the City provides no indication that the relocation is of a temporary nature; and self-evidently, the unlawful occupants of the Central Line cannot be reinstated back onto it at any stage in the future. In addition, there is currently no indication of how the provision of ongoing basic services will be financed on the proposed relocation site currently. For at least these reasons the City is of the view that the current proposal does not meet the requirements for consideration thereof by the City under Section 68 of the MPBL. Prasa, as well as their implementing agent, the HDA, have been advised of the City's views in this respect and urged to reconsider the application of Section 68 to their current relocation proposal. The City is supportive of the project to reopen the central line, and wants to see the trains running as soon as possible. To be clear, nothing prevents Prasa or the HDA from submitting a normal planning application for the City's consideration under the MPBL. The City has committed to dealing with any application by Prasa in this matter in an expeditious and cooperative manner, but it can only do so within the ambit of the law. As for the planning approval process, the City's role is strictly limited to that of the planning authority, which role it undertakes in an expeditious and impartial manner. End

2022-11-24T22:00:00Z

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