Nick Wilson

Property Correspondent

THE Alex Plaza shopping centre in Alexandra, scheduled to have been completed by November, has been delayed because squatters who are occupying half the development site are refusing to leave.

Developers of the R100m shopping centre in Alexandra’s Pan African Triangle have applied for an eviction order to remove about 839 squatters.

The developers have been able to build only half the planned 20000m² shopping centre because squatters occupy the remainder of the site on which the centre is being built.

Grant Nordin, a director of New Africa Developments, said last week the company was losing about R1,2m a month because of holding and building costs, as well as loss of rental income.

Last month the developer sought an eviction order in the Pretoria High Court, citing the Gauteng housing department and the City of Johannesburg as respondents.

But the squatters argued it would be unjust for them to be evicted as the state had not made provision for housing for them.

The squatters argue that the state has an obligation to ensure that everyone has access to adequate housing.

The court ordered that Gauteng housing MEC Nomvula Mokonyane and senior officials of both the provincial housing department and the City of Johannesburg must appear in court on March 6 to explain what the state had done and would do to house the squatters.

Nordin stressed the developers were "not at war" with the squatters or government. "We have sympathy for both sides. But we are losing money and we have to build a shopping centre."

The completion of the shopping centre depends on the outcome of the March court session.

City of Johannesburg spokesman Nthatisi Modingoane said he could not comment as the matter was sub judice.

Housing department spokesman Mongezi Mnyani said Mokonyane had noted and accepted the order that she and other officials appear in person to explain the housing programme for Alexandra.

"The Gauteng department of housing has studied the order and has no objection to comply as required by the judge," Mokonyane said in a statement.

Argument by the legal teams begins today.