Kleinfontein 'troublemakers' broker deal with Tshwane

There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for the residents of the village of Kleinfontein after interim measures proposed by a residents' association were positively received by Tshwane deputy mayor Eugene Modise, who is also MMC for finance.

- Antoinette Slabbert

The community, known to be exclusively for “Boere-Afrikaners”, was described in a high court judgment as an “illegal enterprise” and is at risk of having their homes demolished because they were illegally erected on agricultural land.

Kleinfontein is one of at least 19 illegal developments in Tshwane, not to be confused with squatter camps, due to the quality of improvements done on the land. In some cases, there are multi-million-rand houses.

Kleinfontein itself exists of more than 600 houses, a shopping centre, school, old age home and a light industrial area.

Township establishment was never done, neither was the farmland subdivided, nor were building plans approved by the city’s building control department.

The Tshwane council previously appointed a mayoral subcommittee to develop a policy to deal with the illegal developments, and one of the options available is to demolish the illegal structures.

A serious bone of contention is the failure of the residents to pay property rates for their individual homes.