http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=283&fArticleId=3040896

UKZN and settlement jostle for same spot

Durban land project hits snag
December 20, 2005

By Zukile Majova

An ambitious eThekwini Municipality project to upgrade an informal settlement near the University of KwaZulu-Natal has hit a snag because the university had planned to build residences for its increasing student population on the same land.

Now a process is under way – between the municipality’s Housing Department and UKZN’s planning services – to decide whether there is enough land for the student residences to coexist with the low-cost housing planned for the vociferous residents of Banana City about 100m away from the university. The residents had been at the forefront of protests against the perceived slow pace of service delivery by the municipality.

UKZN Vice-chancellor and Principal Malegapuru Makgoba said the partnership was necessary because the institution had an obligation to provide accommodation for its more than 40 000 students. “We have to work towards ensuring that the land is made available for the university to build residences,” Makgoba said.

Congested

This was very important because the university had an obligation to ensure that its students lived in an environment that was conducive to learning.

“At the moment, we have students living in congested flats all over town and that cannot be right,” he said. Makgoba said the university was hoping for an amicable solution to the problem. Faizal Seedat, Manager of planning in the municipal housing unit, said the project would only start once UKZN agreed to compromise. The upgrade project would include a housing project, roads, water, electricity and sanitation.

“The project will be ready to take off in the next year because we are convinced that there is enough land for the university to build residences without moving the community,” he said. However, Seedat said UKZN would face legal frustration if it were to try to move the people off the land.

“It’s not as simple as applying for a court order to evict them because they have been on the land for more than 10 years. The law is clear that, in such cases, it is the responsibility of the land owner to find alternative land for the people.

“But the people are not prepared to move because they feel they are in a nice spot there, between middle- to high-income suburbs where they can get jobs,” he said.