The City of Cape Town has approved the conceptual design for Phase 2A of the MyCiTi route, despite the legal issues regarding the Wynberg couplet.
The design was approved on Thursday March 31 and includes the T11 route between Mitchell’s Plain and Claremont and the T11 from Khayelitsha to the intersection of Strandfontein Road and New Ottery Road.
For the past two years the South Road Families Association (RSFA) and other Wynberg residents have been battling to keep living in the City-owned houses which were earmarked for demolition to make way for the MyCiTi South Road and Brodie Road couplet.
Last year things got heated and the case was taken to court by the 26 families who formed part of the SRFA after several attempts by the City to have the residents evicted.
The association won when an urgent interdict to halt the eviction of the families was granted (“Eviction of South Road families halted”, Southern Mail, Wednesday October 14 2015). The association applied to prohibit the City from implementing the termination of lease agreement notices served to them in 2014.
The application also sought to stop the City from evicting residents from their leased homes and from demolishing any properties occupied by them.
Acting Judge Leslie Weinkove ordered the City to conduct meaningful public participation pro- cesses before serving eviction no- tices on residents.
He also said the City’s actions had been premature when it demolished three houses in Rotherfield Road in December of 2014 without the consent of full council.
In the meantime, the City has appealed the ruling.
Brett Herron, Mayco member for transport, said the conceptual design does not include the Wynberg section of Phase2A because the service is still subject to a “final court hearing”.
After the conceptual design, a detail design process will follow.
The design includes the route alignment for the T11 and T12 and the locations for the stations and stops.
Mr Herron said after the litigation concerning the Wynberg section of the phase, the T11 is proposed to end at the intersection of Strandfontein Road and New Ottery Road – previously the route was supposed to link up to the Wynberg station.
“It is important to note that apart from some of the comments about the Wynberg section, there is overwhelming support for Phase 2A of the MyCiTi service in the other communities,” said Mr Herron.
“It is clear from the comments that the residents from the Cape Flats in particular are excited about the project and they are looking forward to the day when they can board a MyCiTi bus near their homes,” he added.
Laurie Peregrino from SRFA said the association has received appeal documents and is currently engaging with their legal team in order to respond.
“A ruling has been given and the judgment was clear.
“The City needs to stop wasting ratepayers’ money with litigation costs. The City needs to consult with the residents. They need to conceptualise a plan around that but they don’t want to look at alternatives,” said Mr Peregrino.
He added: “We’ve stated from the beginning that we’re not against the MyCiTi bus concept.
“We are dissatisfied with the manner of bulldozing by the City without meaningful public participation.”