Gang violence is hampering the progress on the Community Residential Units (CRU) in Manenberg, according to the City of Cape Town. City staff and contractors have worked under extremely volatile circumstances given the gang violence experienced in this area. The City has called the community and SAPS to assist in fighting the scourge so the project will be completed on time. They also urged the SAPS to increase assistance in other areas that are severely affected.

Despite the challenges, the upgrades in Manenberg have been progressing well and 1 242 out of the 1 584 rental units earmarked for internal upgrades as part of the City’s Community Residential Unit Refurbishment Programme have been completed.

Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Siyabulela Mamkeli said that the refurbishments were supposed to be finished by the end of this month but construction may be delayed. He said gangsterism has caused the livelihoods and of the people to threatened.

“We condemn the shocking level of ongoing gang violence, which is denying our residents the efficient service delivery that they deserve. The gang violence is hijacking and delaying residents’ opportunities for a better quality of life, which we are trying to provide through this upgrade programme,” he said.

The City’s Community Residential Unit Refurbishment Programme has already seen the refurbishment of more than 6 500 Council rental units of the 7 775 initially identified in 2008 as part of this programme.

“Our overall project completion date of June 2015 is still achievable but we remain concerned about the level of gang violence which is jeopardising the safety of our residents, our contracted workers and our efforts to increase service delivery. We urge our communities to work with us so that our refurbishment programme can be completed on time. We ask residents to report any anti-social or criminal behaviour, such as gangsterism, to the SAPS for investigation,” said Mamkeli.

Religious organizations and other community organizations are also working hand in hand to assist so the refurbishments can be completed on time. VOC (Nishta Sookdiyal)