Mayor demands action on Colchester housing

 Executive Mayor Danny Jordaan told the audience not to clap hands for Thembakazi Hlela (Human Setllement Officer after her presentation as he was not happy with it during the mayoral imbizo in Colchester.. Picture: BRIAN WITBOOI/The Herald

Irate Jordaan gives officials 14 days to come up with plan for land

NELSON Mandela Bay mayor Danny Jordaan has given housing officials 14 days to come up with concrete plans to acquire land on which to build houses in Colchester.

Unhappy with a report by housing official Thembakazi Hlela during a mayoral outreach meeting on Monday night, Jordaan laid into Hlela.

He said they did not want to come to Colchester to tell people “nonsense”, instead of giving concrete answers on the land issue in the area.

Jordaan publicly slammed Hlela, who told the overflowing community hall that of the four pockets of land identified for development, there were plans to try to make three of them habitable.

Residents sat perched on the edge of their seats, eyes glued to the screen showing information about their area, listening attentively to Hlela’s presentation on housing.

She told them how the department was still to engage the owners of privately owned land, while municipal-owned land – a rubbish tip – would need resources to rehabilitate it.

At the end of her presentation, as the audience started applauding her, Jordaan jumped from his seat and interjected.

“No, no, no, don’t applaud,” he told residents.

Facing Hlela, Jordaan said: “This is not the report that we wanted to hear now. What we wanted to hear here tonight is whether you talked to those people about whether the land is available for sale. Yes or no?

The post Mayor demands action on Colchester housing appeared first on HeraldLIVE.