The City of Cape Town has withdrawn the notices terminating lease agreements with 26 tenants living in City-owned properties along South Road in Wynberg.

In a statement released on Thursday, the City said that while litigation seemed unavoidable, “we only want to proceed once we are convinced that all possible avenues for finding an amicable solution have been exhausted”.

The City wants affected residents to vacate the council-owned land to make way for new planned MyCiTi bus routes.

“In this matter, though, the City is confident that we can still find a way to avoid costly litigation about a major transport project that is ultimately to the benefit of our residents in the metro south-east and the future of our city.”

Lawyers representing the South Road Families Association were informed of the decision on Thursday morning.

“We have given an undertaking to take no further action against these tenants until we have concluded the public participation process about the concept design of MyCiTi Phase 2A, otherwise known as the Lansdowne/Wetton Corridor, considered all of the public comment, and presented a recommendation to Council for a decision later this year,” the City said in a statement.

All action against those applicants with outstanding debts has also been suspended temporarily.

“We urge the South Road Families Association to make use of the public participation process to air their views, and to provide their input in writing on the possibility of implementing the proposed MyCiTi trunk route in the Wynberg area without making use of the South Road road scheme.”

The deadline for written comment has been extended to July 13.

During this public participation process, officials from Transport for Cape Town, the City’s transport authority, will make available the assessments of the alternative routes proposed by the South Road Families Association, the statement read.

The open days in Wynberg and Claremont are:

– June 15 from 16:00 to 20:00 in the Alphen Centre, Constantia;

– June 15 from 16:00 to 20:00 at the Claremont Civic Centre and

– June 17 from 16:00 to 20:00 at Church on Main Road, Wynberg.

A map indicating the trunk routes and the proposed stops and stations will be available. News24