Price negotiations are ongoing between the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and the owner of the land on which the Grogro informal settlement is situated. (Photo: Deon Ferreira) Parties involved in the deliberations over land where the Grogro informal settlement in Nelson Mandela Bay is situated are playing their cards close to the chest as price negotiations continue.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and the landowner, Dr Albert van Rooyen, have both appointed their own independent valuators to put forward numbers that will give them a departure point for negotiations.
Neither party is willing to reveal their hand just yet as discussions are ongoing.
And while alternatives to the municipality buying the land outright have been put on the table, other parties, including the majority of Grogro residents, have made it clear that there is only outcome they are willing to accept.
The struggle for basic services at the informal settlement just off Kragga Kamma Road dates back about 40 years, shortly after the first residents settled on the privately owned portion of land nestled between Theescomb, Sherwood and Baywest.
Over the past four decades the community has grown to about 1,000 residents, who resorted to dangerous illegal connections to power their households, and in October last year they started with the first in a series of violent protests after City officials removed these connections and plunged the settlement into darkness.
/file/attachments/orphans/GrogroMayor5_529630.jpg "Numerous shotgun shells were strewn around Kragga Kamma Road where Public Order Policing clashed with Grogro protestors demanding electricity. (Photo: Riaan Marais)")
Since then the community has been led by the nose with a series of empty promises from high ranking City officials – promises that proved to be legally impossible.
Last month, the disillusioned community took to the streets again, resulting in violent clashes between protestors and Public Order Policing, and disrupting traffic and businesses on the western outskirts of the city.
Community leaders insisted on meeting with mayor Babalwa Lobishe, who had previously avoided engagements with them.
She told the community that the landowner wanted an exorbitant amount of R80-million for the 85ha piece of land and that the City would appoint its own valuators to present a counter-offer.
/file/attachments/orphans/GrogroMayor1_714262.jpg "NMB mayor Babalwa Lobishe, as well as several high-ranking City officials, met with the community of the Grogro informal settlement to negotiate terms for them to reopen Kragga Kamma Road, which they had blocked since early morning as part of a service delivery protest. Grogro and the municipality have been at loggerheads since October when they demanded electricity after the City removed the illegal connections they were using. (Photo: Riaan Marais)")
Van Rooyen, on the other hand, argued that such a price was more than reasonable based on previous offers he had to forego due to the land being informally occupied.
“The City can confirm that the valuation of the property has been completed. As this forms part of a confidential negotiation process between the municipality and the property owner, the details of the valuation and the estimated price cannot be disclosed at this stage,” municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said earlier this week.
He said that given the complexity of the matter a resolution would not happen overnight, but the municipality was committed to fast-tracking dealing “within the appropriate legal and administrative processes”.
Soyaya added that the community was being kept up to date with all developments through weekly engagements with their appointed leadership, and that City officials were available for them to engage with for any information and developments.
Community leader Zukile Futa confirmed that the community was being kept informed and they were eagerly awaiting news on any substantive developments.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Grogro-people-2.jpg "Monica Komani (73) was among the first residents to live in Grogro, and said that in 40 years the community had received no services other than a single tap for water. (Photo: Riaan Marais)")
Van Rooyen confirmed that he was in contact with the legal team the City had appointed to the matter, and that negotiations were ongoing.
“Following the last protest action I was in contact with the attorneys appointed by the City to get the ball rolling. They seemed very eager to find a timeous resolution, for which I am grateful as engagements in the past were not very fruitful.”
He said they had follow-up engagements, and he had been informed that the City had completed its valuations. He said he had since appointed a valuator who was in the process of compiling a detailed valuation report.
During previous engagements, Van Rooyen said the municipality had hinted at a possible lease agreement for the land as an alternative to an outright sale. However, he said it was highly unlikely that he would entertain such an agreement.
This type of agreement also begged the question of what the municipality would be able to provide the residents of Grogro. Legally, they were not allowed to install services, like water and electricity, on privately owned land.
If no agreement could be reached with the landowner, Lobishe also told the community that they could relocate to a residential development called N2 North, further west on the outskirts of the city.
While some residents were willing to hear more about such an arrangement during previous engagements, the majority of the community refused to even entertain suggestions of relocation. DM