BEYOND AFFLUENCE

Innesfree Park is situated in the posh suburb of Sandton, JOHANNESBURG. The beautiful park was used as a fan park during the 2010 World Cup.

Children still play there and lovers visit the park to have some time alone. Tranquility prevails and the beautiful gardens make you feel like you are in paradise, until you look closer beyond the trees lining the southern fence of the park.

There is a hidden informal settlement just as you cross the Jukskei River that runs through the park.

Innesfree Park informal settlement is more than two decades old.

The late Richard Lurie, who ran a vegetable farm, donated the land to City Parks in 1963. He reached an agreement with the then city officials that his son Charles, now 61, should continue living on the property.

The property has two modern houses. Charles lives in one house and his son lives in the other.

Next to the main house is the old house where the late Lurie lived and which was later used to house workers at the farm.

Charles describes his beautiful home, fenced and with CCTV camera as "a piece of paradise".

But to the more than 120 households living in abject poverty across the electric fence, it is the opposite.

Technicians from the council disconnected the illegal power supply to the settlement last week.

Residents had been paying Charles R100 because he had to foot the bill for the illegal connection.

Now that there is no electricity, residents use wood to cook. Water is still available from one tap in the middle of the settlement.

All the families use one flushing toilet.

John Ngobeni, 62, arrived from Tzaneen, Limpopo, in 1979 to work as a general worker. He was responsible for the plumbing, painting and other technical jobs.

"There were only 13 of us back then and we did not pay rent. There was only the Sandton City and the traffic department here," he said.

Ngobeni has seven children, six of whom were born in the informal settlement. Two of his children have died.

"Later, more people came and shacks started mushrooming all over the property. Most people came out of desperation. Some worked in Sandton and did not have a place to stay," Ngobeni said.

Eric Billa, 38, who works as a taxi driver, complained about the rainy season when all the shacks are flooded when the Jukskei River overflows.

"In 2004, the council promised to give us RDP houses. We voted for them, but we still don't have houses," Billa said.

Stella Mbongeni, 38, said most of the children in Innesfree attend school in Alexandra Township. She said the people shopped in Alex and had to walk back to the settlement because there is no public transport between the two areas.

All the residents claim there was no crime in the settlement because "everybody knows everybody".

The people also claimed that Lurie wanted them to vacate the land before the beginning of 2012.

But he had a different view.

"I do not have a problem with them. My problem is the crime," Lurie said.

He said his relationship with the residents was healthy.

"I have very loyal people living there, who have worked for me for years," he said.

Lurie alleged that Innesfree Park settlement was used to hide drugs and stolen vehicles.

Poverty is rife in Innesfree .

Bubu Xuba, head of communications in the City of Johannesburg, said they were aware of the settlement.

"The city's housing department is aware of the Innesfree Park informal settlement. We carried out a registration process to determine the number of households in the settlement which amounted to about 120.

"The department plans to relocate people to a housing project which is still at a planning stage so we can not determine when relocation will take place," Xuba said.

"We have had engagements with the owner of the land and we have told him about our plans to resettle the people of the informal settlement, which will be as soon as a housing development is ready," Xuba said.