On the afternoon of December 18, a group of residents from the Kempton Park CBD visited Villa Toscana on Oak Avenue in an attempt to occupy the building.
They claimed the building was used for illegal activities by foreign nationals.
The residents had allegedly spoken to the building owner about moving in and paying rent. Their attempt to occupy the building did not go as planned.
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Shirley Mathopa, a member of the group who wanted to move into the building, said the security guard asked what they were doing there.
“We told him that we want to occupy the building because it is used for illegal activities and we are going to move in and pay rent to the owner,” she said.
She added that the security guard called the police.
“The police used pepper spray to move us away and four officers manhandled me. They shoved me inside the van, sprayed me with even more pepper spray and then closed the door,” she said.
“My eyes were red, sore and I didn’t even receive medical attention while I was in police custody.
“I was the only one who was arrested and it doesn’t make sense because there were many of us. I stayed in the police cells for two days.”
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Mathopa claims the owner of the building has yet to break his silence over what transpired on the day.
SAPS Ekurhuleni district communications officer Captain Nelda Sekgobela said that it is alleged that the community tried to occupy the building by force.
“The security guard on site contacted the owner who tried to talk to the community but they refused. The resident said they would occupy the building by force,” she said.
Sekgobela added that the owner of the building contacted the police and when the officer arrived, members of the community still refused to leave.
“The community started swearing at police officers and told officers that they would not leave.
The owner of the property then opened a case of trespassing against Mathopa, who had refused to leave the property.
“At that point other community members had begun to cooperate with police and left the area,” Sekgobela said.
Mathopa appeared before the Kempton Park Magistrates Court on December 20 where she was granted bail.
The case against her was postponed to April 3.
