Peter Smulik, Rugby
It’s the typical pig-headedness by the Department of Public Works and also the South African National Defence Force, that prompts them to evict these families (“Farm families face uproot,” Atlantic Sun, September 1).
The first question that needs to be asked is: for what does the defence force need more property within the built-up city? Are they going to have military games next door to residential property?
It’s absurd to think that in this day and age we still have large scale military presence in the middle of the city, apart from maybe the historic barracks in the Castle.
The piece on Signal Hill is one thing, where they fire the cannon daily, but anything else is surely totally unwarrant-ed.
Next to my property in Rugby we have the Ysterplaat airfield which originally was way outside the city limits.
Now they do daily helicopter training flights, apart from many others over our heads, a disaster waiting to happen. And when they built a new parameter fence some 15 years ago they “excluded (forgot)” a small piece of land adjoining our properties in Gluckman Avenue, which they do not use and neglect to maintain, thereby contravening council regulations, but refuse to sell for any useful development.
Their constant stubborn reply is: Department of Public Works does not sell any of its land. I say, at least not until it is invaded by the mob one of these days. Good luck to the farm families.
