Land activist makes humane housing opportunities priority in campaign for ward councillor

Land Party ward councillor candidate Lana van der Berg for the communities of Thornton, Pinelands and Maitland in Ward 58.

Land Party ward councillor candidate Lana van der Berg for the communities of Thornton, Pinelands and Maitland in Ward 58.

Published Oct 26, 2021

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Cape Town - Land Party Ward 58 councillor candidate Lana van der Berg is on a mission to ensure humane housing opportunities and effective service delivery for the communities communities of Thornton, Pinelands and Maitland.

She said while carrying out a socio-economic service delivery survey in Thornton and Epping, she and her team were alerted to the inhumane eviction of residents at the Epping Market Informal Settlement – that did not even have running water or toilets.

“Approximately 100 families are living there for the past 27 years under inhumane conditions and the City has refused to allocate them decent housing in the Thornton Area. Instead, the City wants to dump them in the unhealthy and crime-ridden area in Uitsig,” said Van der Berg.

“Since joining the Land Party, I have become aware of the importance of land ownership in South Africa and I have become aware how we as black women are kept in bondage by the landlords and the City of Cape Town,” she added.

Land Party Ward councillor candidate Lana van der Berg for the communities of Thornton, Pinelands and Maitland in ward 58, with residents of the Epping Market Informal Settlement.

Van der Berg said the capitalist cross-subsidisation and social enterprise business model, employed by many organisations such as Communicare, was a perfect example of how the capitalist rental system was failing to equip communities with decent houses and contributing to evictions and homelessness.

“I took this ambitious decision to challenge the status quo in social housing and land ownership, more specifically Communicare, so that all Communicare tenant beneficiaries can get their title deeds and that land ownership becomes a reality for the poor black women in South Africa,” said Van der Berg.

Thornton resident Dumisani Mdluli said Van der Berg was a mother figure in the community of Thornton and was always at the forefront fighting injustices in the community, especially the acquisition of land to the landless.

“She has helped people who did not have a place to sleep in cold rainy conditions and accommodated them in her place of residence,” said Mdluli.

kristin.engel@inl.co.za

Cape Argus