Residents from Zone O in Kayamandi were moved from their informal settlements into a temporary relocation area in Ward 12, with the promise from the Stellenbosch Municipality that they would return when new houses were built for them. However, over eight years later, they are still in the temporary relocation sites, said the Sambathas, who were among the families who were relocated in 2018.
Streets have already been paved in one of the sites where the new houses will be built. PHOTO: Kwanda Mkhonto
When SMF News asked the municipality why the tender advertised in late 2025 had been cancelled in early 2026, Stuart Grobbelaar Stellenbosch Municipality communications manager said there had been complications with pricing and limited funding to continue.
“During the second tender process [in 2026], the prices received indicated that the cost of constructing a single unit was approximately double the available subsidy quantum, while no responsive bids were received,” said Grobbelaar.
“The project therefore remains active, but construction cannot commence until a viable implementation and funding arrangement has been secured,” he added.
Zone O temporary relocation area in Kayamandi, where some of the residents are waiting for the 170 government subsidised houses. PHOTO: Kwanda Mkhonto
“People were moved from the area to Temporary Relocation Area (TRA) to make available land to build for them,” said Ayanda Tomose, Ward 12 councillor.
“What is important is to start the development because people have been in TRA for more than five years now,” said Tomose.
A family that moved to the TRA in 2018, claimed the Stellenbosch Municipality told them that they were going to be relocated back to their respective spaces after one year.
An area in ward 15, where government subsidised houses are to be built, some residents claim. PHOTO: Kwanda Mkhonto
“Bathi kaloku, ngokokuthetha kwabo, masizolinda apha kangange one year, then sibuye back [They said we must relocate to here, and wait for about one year, then we go back],” said Velegcuwa Sambatha, a resident of the temporary relocation area in Ward 12.
“Kodwa ngoku sina eight years silapha [But now we have been here for eight years],” he said.
Velegcuwa Sambatha in his temporary relocation settlement. He is a resident who was moved to a temporary relocation area from Zone O to Ward 12 in Kayamandi, in 2018, with a promise that they were going to be relocated to newly built houses in their previous communities, he claimed. It has been eight years now, and they are still waiting, he asserted. PHOTO: Kwanda Mkhonto
No update has been given to them, and Velegcuwa Sambatha speculated that the relocation was just a way for the municipality to relocate them from their previous places of residence.
People cannot stay in the dark for this long, and they need to be informed, said Tomose.
“We are not happy as councillors for this project. [It] has been delayed for more than a year now without proper explanation,” said Tomose.
The tender has been advertised on two occasions, however on the first instance, no appointments could be made, said Grobbelaar.