Evicted residents to receive homes
ALEXANDRA - Government's has come up with a plan to house residents of 1st avenue who were evicted from two private stands last week.
Government has come up with a plan to house residents of 1st Avenue who were evicted from two private stands last week.
An inter-ministerial task team led by the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) informed the residents’ committee at the Alexandra Clinic that a service provider was developing a housing scheme for them in Marlboro which should be completed in three weeks.
The team includes the South African police services, Department of Human Settlement and Department of Social Development, City of Joburg.
The eviction, which was overruled by an interdict by the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court, caused hundreds of people to spend a cold night in the open with their belongings strewn on the street, some lost and damaged during the eviction.
They got relief when, on the second night accommodation was offered at transit sites and charity organisations assisted with food and blankets, with government promising a permanent solution.
Following the interdict, some residents were allowed back on one of the stands, but on the other, security guards refused them entry pending orders from the property owner.
The task team’s offer of housing was to ensure accommodation was available to them as there were fears the eviction could be attempted again through court appeal by the property owners.
In addition to housing, the team would provide legal advice to those wanting to pursue claims for losses incurred – material or document – social relief and access to other services like education and transport for children, and to facilitate other material needs such as food supplies, which social development and charity organisations committed to provide. Also, the team was liasing with the South African Human Rights Commission for a ruling on the effects of the eviction on the human rights of the affected families.
While appreciating the support, committee members said they suspected that collusion between some members of the police and property owners led to the eviction. This conclusion was drawn because the police seemingly just stood by during the eviction, and also from their experience of the ineffectiveness of the Community Policing Forum in curbing crime in the area, they said.
Willy Bhila, deputy director general of Cogta advised them to report any undue actions of security agencies to the relevant management structures, and stressed the need for a stronger and collaborative method of responding to evictions by involved agencies in the province in order to protect citizens’ human rights.
Click here to see how all the drama unfolded.
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