OTTAWA, NEAR VERULAM, IS A RESIDENTIAL VILLAGE – THIS IS THE CLEAR MESSAGE RELAYED TO THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED TO MUNICIPALITY FOLLOWING A MEETING THAT THE ETHEKWINI TOWN PLANNERS HELD WITH THE RESIDENTS ON THURSDAY, SEPT 10 2015

MEMORANDUM ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF OTTAWA IN RESPONSE TO THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY'S "OTTAWA FUNCTIONAL AREA PLAN AND SCHEME PROJECT" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. INTRODUCTION --------------------------------- The small village of Ottawa, situated near Verulam, and surrounded by Phoenix, Waterloo and now Cornubia, has a rich heritage and history. The descendants of indentured labourers, who were brought to work on the sugar plantations of the then Natal Colony from India since the 1860s, settled in Ottawa and other areas such as Verulam, Tongaat, Stanger, in and around the city of Durban, and in several areas south of Durban, Umzinto, Port Shepstone, Pietermaritzburg and other areas of the Natal Colony. The people who settled in Ottawa had initially worked on sugar estates in the Ottawa Sugar Estate, Blackburn Sugar, Mount Edgecombe Sugar Estate and other sugar estates in the vicinity. Thereafter, many others, who were mainly market gardeners, railway workers, and others who worked in clothing factories and as waiters, also made Ottawa their home. They first lived in wood and iron houses and relied on the Ottawa River for their drinking water and water for other house-hold uses. The Ottawa River was in fact their "lifeblood". The residents also relied on the railway line running from Ottawa to Mount Edgecombe for their coal requirements. Their mode of transport at that time was only the trains running to Verulam and Durban. PROGRESS ---------------------- Life began to change for the residents since the early 1950s, when former South African tennis champion, Mr S S Maharaj, moved to Ottawa and opened his Flash Clothing factory. The factory was a life changer for poor people from Ottawa and surrounding areas. They now earned a livelihood as machinists and began to improve their lives. At the same time the residents of Ottawa, with the leadership of Mr Maharaj, Mr Parthab, Mr S S Badlu, Mr Munoo Maharaj, Mr Singh (George Singh's father), Mr Latiff and others, built their own school, Jhugroo Government Aided School. The land was donated by the Jhugroo family. With the clothing factory and the school, the residents began to improve the quality of lives of their children. This led to almost all the families transforming their wood and iron houses into neat and modern brick and tile homes. The only businesses in the early days were three shops situated on the main road running through the town and the motor scrap dealer situated across the railway line near Ottawa House. There were no businesses in the residential area making up Ottawa. After the construction of the new Jhugroo school, the residents also built the Ottawa hall, which is now owned by the municipality. In addition, the residents have also built their own temples. The church in Munn Road and the Mosque on the main road are new developments that only took place after 1994. In the early days, Christian, Muslim and Hindu members of the community used to travel to Verulam and Mount Edgecombe to obtain their spiritual needs. For the vast majority of residents, Ottawa was not only a place where they stayed but also a community who belonged to "one large family". POST 1994 ---------------------- After 1994, the residents continued to make progress in their lives and new people began to move in as well. They have made vast improvements to their properties. But at the same time there have been some business people who used the new era to set up trucking, motor scrap yards and other businesses in areas where previously these were purely residential properties. The main areas affected are Riverview and Munn roads, Maharaj Road, the back of Kissoon Road near the R102 and some properties at the top end of Ottawa. In addition, there are a number of environmentally-dangerous businesses on properties, east of the main road along the railway line. REPRESENTATIONS ------------------------------------ The Ottawa Environmental Forum, the Ottawa Civic Association, the Ottawa Crime Watch, other organisations and a number of individuals have taken up the issue of the degeneration and degradation now taking place with the municipality. But except for promises of action, virtually nothing has been done to bring the culprits, who are wreaking havoc on the environment, to book. No action has also been taken to move the businesses to an industrial area. The Ottawa River, once a lifeblood of the community, has now been virtually destroyed through illegal dumping and lack of care. The municipality has failed dismally to take action to protect the river. PROPOSALS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As indicated and made very clear by residents during the meeting on Thursday, September 10 at the Ottawa Civic Hall, it must be emphasised that OTTAWA IS PRIMARILY A RESIDENTIAL AREA and future developmental plans should take this into account. These are the main factors that must be taken into account: * Ottawa is a rich historical village and the residential nature of the area should not be tampered with. * Trucking companies, scrap yard dealers and other illegal businesses are destroying the environment, including the Ohlanga River and its streams. A number of truckers are dumping sand into the river and one businessman has even set up a poultry business on the river near the Ottawa bridge. The municipality is doing nothing to take action and move the businesses to an industrial area. *Any future developmental plan should ensure that the environment is protected and the municipality should take steps to stop the degeneration and degradation of the area. * The area is already congested and no cluster housing development should take place. Cluster housing is already taking place in neighbouring areas. The programme by the city council to build houses in every free standing area and public recreational facility in Phoenix is fast turning Phoenix into a slum. OTTAWA SHOULD NOT FOLLOW THE PHOENIX PATH AND ALSO TURNED INTO A SLUM. CONCLUSION -------------------------- It's interesting to note that the Town Planning Department of the Ethekwini Municipality had organised the meeting with residents at a time when Durban was hosting the 14th World Forestry Congress at the ICC. The Congress delegates, who are from all parts of the world, want to protect forests in their countries to, among other things, counter climatic change and promote the future of humanity. The residents of Ottawa sincerely hope that as Durban and South Africa is concerned about preserving and protecting our forests, the environment and our heritage, that the Planning people in the city will spare a thought for the residents of Ottawa who have to put up with the degeneration and degradation of their village on a daily basis by unscrupulous business people and lack of action by the municipality. It is up to the Town Planners to ensure that the environment in and around Ottawa is not only protected and promoted, but that the RESIDENTIAL NATURE OF THE VILLAGE IS NOT COMPROMISED IN ANY WAY. It must also be noted that the Ethekwini Municipality has now embarked on a programme to "putting people first" - in other words the municipality will take into account the views, concerns and wishes of the ratepayers and taxpayers and will not impose undemocratic policies on the residents. (Submitted by Subry Govender, Veteran Struggle Journalist who paid the price for the freedom we enjoy today.) (subrygovender@gmail.com, 082 376 9053, No:3 Riverview Road, Ottawa)