Hon Groenewald, Marievale is a military base on the East Rand, in the Johannesburg area, and has been a matter of concern for many Members of Parliament; it has been a concern of members of the community around there, too. It has since also become a very serious concern to me.
After a great deal of confusion over who is responsible for the base, we have finally arranged that we, as the Defence Force, are responsible for it. Therefore, the answer is that we are responsible for the administration and the maintenance of the base.
The second question is: Who lives on the base? We have two types of people who live on the base. There are the residents, the official residents, who are SANDF personnel. We also have the unofficial residents - the illegal occupants. The legal residents are allowed to stay, because they work in that environment, and we are trying to assist the illegal residents to find better accommodation elsewhere. The Department of Defence and Military Veterans and the Department of Public Works, in conjunction with the municipality of Ekurhuleni, are in the process of seeking alternative accommodation for the illegal occupants. We are very aware of the danger around the area that they live in, and an interdepartmental task team has been set up to facilitate this.
Yes, I have been informed about the concerns about the area, and I have been given a general overview of the military base. There is no transport arranged for the people who live there, the official residents. They are members of the construction and engineering regiments and their work is very close by, within walking distance, so we have not arranged any transport for them. Thank you.