Changing the status of Bonteheuwel from a township to a suburb is nothing more than relabelling, and doing so might actually have negative implications for the residents.
So said Derek Tucker, spokesperson for the Bonteheuwel Ratepayers’ and Tenants’ Association (BRATA).
Mr Tucker was responding to Ward 50 councillor, Angus McKenzie’s motion to Sub-council 5 to have the area declared a suburb. The matter will be discussed at the sub-council meeting, today, Wednesday October 16.
In his motivation to the sub-council, Mr McKenzie said Bonteheuwel had seen significant changes, which include “multi-million rand projects”, such as “the approved housing development, roads upgrade, the upgrade of electricity infrastructure, and the upgrade of the Bonteheuwel central business district (CBD)”.
“All these projects will bring huge economic upliftment for the people of Bonteheuwel. More importantly, one of the community’s biggest challenges has been crime. The deployment of 100 law enforcement officers has completely changed this community to a safer and more pleasant community where our parks are filled with children, our local businesses thriving and our streets filled with joy and laughter. I therefore move that Bonteheuwel’s status as a township be scrapped and replaced with the status of being a suburb,” he added.
Mr Tucker said Bonteheuwel is a working-class community and questioned how the changing of the naming status would affect residents.
“We need to know whether the naming status change will have any implications for the ratepayers and tenants. How will that influence national and provincial funding?