Petition by affected Hoekwil residents
We, the undersigned Hoekwil residents affected by the provincial section of Duiweriver Street, stretching from the Kerk Street intersection to the cul-de-sac/dairy farm, request George Municipality and the Western Cape Government to proceed with the transfer of this section to municipal control.
This section now functions overwhelmingly as a local residential road within George Municipality. It primarily serves residential properties and subdivisions, does not connect municipalities, does not carry significant intermunicipal traffic and does not serve an apparent wider provincial transport function.
The Constitution distinguishes provincial roads from municipal roads and assigns municipal roads to local government. Most significantly, the Western Cape Legislature has already passed the Western Cape Provincial Transport Infrastructure Act 3 of 2023, which was assented to by the Premier. Although its commencement date has not yet been proclaimed, it expressly adopts the functional principle relevant here: roads serving wider provincial or intermunicipal purposes belong in the provincial network, while roads that do not meet those criteria are generally to be classified as municipal roads.
The lower Duiwerivier Street section appears clearly to fall on the municipal side of that functional distinction. Its historical rural character should not determine its treatment today after substantial residential subdivision and development on this road and the road that it feeds, Boekenhout avenue.
The provincial section of Duiwerivier Street also provides the sole means of vehicular access to Boekenhout avenue, which is already a municipal road. It therefore functions not only as a local residential access road itself, but also as the feeder/access road to an existing municipal residential road
We understand that the principal obstacle to transfer is George Municipality’s concern that the Province has not adequately maintained or rehabilitated the road before transfer.
We submit that these are two separate issues. The appropriate classification and transfer of the road should be determined by its present function. Responsibility for the existing rehabilitation backlog should be negotiated separately between George Municipality and the Western Cape Government.
The Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act 13 of 2005 requires organs of state to make reasonable efforts to resolve intergovernmental disputes. Residents should not indefinitely bear the consequences of a disagreement between Province and Municipality over rehabilitation costs.
We therefore request that:
1. The transfer of this section to George Municipality be proceeded with without further unreasonable delay; and
2. George Municipality and the Western Cape Government resolve between themselves the responsibility and cost of the existing rehabilitation backlog.
Should George Municipality and the Western Cape Government fail to resolve the transfer within a reasonable period, the residents intend to lodge a formal petition with the Western Cape Provincial Parliament under the Western Cape Petitions Act 3 of 2006, requesting parliamentary oversight of the matter and the intergovernmental impasse. Thereafter, if necessary, the matter may be referred to the Public Protector and/or legal remedies considered.
Signing this petition supports the above request and proposed escalation only. It does not commit any resident to participate in, fund or become a party to legal proceedings. Any decision regarding legal action would be taken separately and participation would be entirely voluntary.
