The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has had trouble getting railway routes that haven’t been working for different reasons back up and running.
While the Northern Line and the Southern Line are back online and providing adequate service, challenges still block progress on the Central Line.
Recently, Prasa has sort out aid from the City to try to get alternative accommodation for people who have been illegally settling along the railway line in Langa. The City says it is 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.”
Prasa and the Housing Development Agency (HDA) are asking the City to approve the relocation of illegal occupants on a temporary, emergency basis in terms of Section 68 of the Municipal Planning By-law (MPBL).
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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 providing basic services at such a temporary emergency relocation site have been secured prior to relocation.
The proposal that has been put forward to the City provides no indication that the relocation is of a temporary nature, and evidently, the unlawful occupants of the Central Line cannot be reinstated onto it at any stage in the future. In addition, there is currently no indication of how the provision of ongoing essential services will be financed at the proposed relocation site.
For at least these reasons, the City is of the view that the current proposal does not meet the requirements for consideration 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.
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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 it undertakes in an expeditious and impartial manner.
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