Forceful eviction leaves 30 homeless

ABOUT 30 people were left stranded with their belongings on the pavement on Stella Road after a forceful eviction from a private property on Tuesday night, 14 October.

According to reports, most tenants came home to find their beds and furniture already on the pavement as they were at work when the eviction happened. Among the evicted was a six month pregnant woman who told reporters that she had lived in the house for a decade and together with other tenants said they payed R600 a month for rent. Ward 65 councillor, Chris van den Burg, said the eviction was carried out legally however, the tenants were not compliant.

“The owner of the property went to court and obtained an eviction notice and the tenants were served. His lawyers then contacted me and asked me to intervene as a ward councillor,” he said.

He said the notice was given about eight months to about a year ago. “It is unfortunate that they were forced out but they had ample time to leave. When I intervened, I came to them and explained the eviction process. They understood what I was saying but seemed to not care,” said Van Den Burg. Although the tenants understood that they had to vacate the property, the councillor said that they then asked to be given a house to substitute the one they were losing. Attorney, Yusuf Cassim of Yusuf Cassim and Associates, said the tenants started living illegally on the property in 2012 and that they had had ample time to leave.

“The court order was obtained in March where most or some of the tenants were present. We went as far as asking the ward councillor to explain to them what all this meant,” explained Cassim. He added that after their refusal to move, they had no other choice but to remove them forcefully.

A week after the eviction, the Queensburgh News visited the property to find both the evicted and their belongings still outside the property. Solomon (65) and Gelitha Mthalane (66) said after the eviction, they had nowhere else to go and were forced to stay on the verge of the property together with their daughter and five children.

“Of the 10 years we have stayed here, we spent the first three years paying a man named Peter, rent. We never thought that we were occupying the house illegally because we paid,” said Gelitha.

However, this was before a few more other men tried to solicit money from them. “We stopped paying him because we did not know who to pay,” she added. That was the last time rent from all 30 tenants was paid. The Mthalane family said disputes over property ownership continued but they and other tenants were told not to worry by a councillor they only know as Zwane. “He would come to us every once in a while and would tell us that we should stay put as he was trying to get us a place to stay,” said Solomon.

Another tenant, who had found a new place to stay, 6-month-pregnant Lusanda Jingqi, gave her version of events on the night of the eviction. “I pleaded with the police to allow us to at least stay the night but they wouldn’t hear any of that.

“Not even when they saw how vulnerable I am. They told us they had no say in the eviction and that was that,” she said. Jingqi said they were barely managing to get by while they occupied the house as it had no water or electricity but facing the eviction was the most difficult to endure.

“We were informed about the eviction but didn’t believe any of it because of all the people who had came to us before claiming ownership,” she added. After a week of living on the street, the Mthalane family finally gave in defeated and moved to Burlington.

“When you are uneducated, you feel most oppressed and there’s not much you can do to defend yourself in these kinds of situations,” said Gelitha.