THE Department of Housing in the North West will relocate residents of the Yizo Yizo informal settlement near Tlhabane in Rustenburg.
This comes after residents demanded service delivery from Deputy President Paul Mashatile during the World TB Day Commemoration at Tlhabane on 24 March.
The residents said they lived in the area for more than 24 years.
They never received service delivery and pleaded with the government for urgent intervention.
North West Acting Premier, Nono Maloyi, addressed the residents during a community meeting held at Tlhabane Stadium on Tuesday, 27 June, on the resolutions made thus far.
Residents of Yizo Yizo had mixed emotions over the relocation.
A resident, Rapula Penyenye, said the news was nothing new to them.
He said for years, officials only came to them towards elections and disappeared after.
Another resident, Gaobowe Suping, said she has lived in the area for over 20 years and is happy that change has come.
“We are only crying for better living conditions. It is hard living in a shack without electricity, water and poor infrastructure," she said.
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Josephine Goeieman said she had been living in the area for 26 years.
"I am happy we will receive water, electricity and better homes. This will restore the dignity of the people of Yizo Yizo. We have been abandoned for years now," she said.
Acting Premier, Nono Maloyi, said they had reviewed the issues faced by the residents and bought land on another side of the area to relocate them and build RDPs.
Maloyi said the process to identify the extent number of the households would start next week.
He assured the residents that they would monitor the progress quarterly. “I will come back in August to check on the progress," Maloi said.
He apologised to the residents for previous failures and emphasised that he was an implementer who believed in giving time frames.
