President Park residents demand land
MIDRAND – About a hundred of President Park residents marched to Region A offices in Midrand demanding vacant land in the area be given to them.
The demand for land that has been taking place in different sections of Midrand has reached President Park as residents marched to Region A’s offices on 5 April demanding a share of the vacant areas near them.
The march included organisations such as the Black First Land First, and the African National Congress and other disgruntled residents of President Park lead by Annikie Mothibi and Phumzile Mlenzana.
Mothibi said she and her late husband, Piet van Heerden, have lived in President Park since the early 90s and when people came to them seeking shelter, they decided to allocate a portion of their backyard to allow people to erect their shacks and stay with their families.
“Our neighbours were not pleased with this decision. They accused us of dropping the value of their homes because we allowed shacks in our backyard,” said Mothibi.
Mlenzana said he has been living in a small shack in Mothibi’s backyard for years and is very grateful to her for providing him a space for shelter but has realised that he cannot live in someone’s backyard forever when there is vacant land in the area which has not been utilised for years.
“The informal settlement known as Annikie’s Place has hundreds of people living there and most of them have young children, and a shack is not the best place to raise a child, so all we want is for the government to allocate a portion of land to us.”
Another resident of Mayibuye, Sibongile Mokoena, said she has two sons who are already adults but still unemployed. “It is difficult for everyone to live in one small house because they also need their own space and a house for their own families.”
Region A deputy director Izette Schutte has confirmed that the community of Ward 110 marched to Region A’s offices and handed over a memorandum which will be responded to on 16 April.
Mlenzana said they will wait for a response from the region but has threatened that if they do not receive the positive feedback they are waiting for, they will take further action.
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