Santa Village resident Dudu Kunene, left, in front of her house with her neighbour Celiwe Jara. The residents have until the end of May to leave the area. Picture: Masoka Dube
A dark and cold winter awaits more than 2 000 residents, including 33 children, of Santa Village near Ackerville in Emalahleni in Mpumalanga after a court ruled that Emalahleni municipality can evict them.
The land dispute between the residents and the municipality started two years ago when the municipality ordered them to demolish their houses and leave, claiming the area was not conducive for human settlement.
According to a judgment recently handed down by the Emalahleni Magistrate’s Court, if the residents refuse to leave by the stipulated date, the municipality, with the assistance of the police and other relevant stakeholders, will evict them on 7 June.
“Those who erected structures in the property are hereby ordered to vacate the applicant’s property on or before 31 May, failing which the sheriff of this court is ordered to carry out the eviction on or before 7 June. And if necessary seek the assistance of the South African Police Service in carrying out the eviction,” magistrate VK Mtsweni said.
Mtsweni said the municipality convinced the court that the original settlers of the area had been provided with RDP houses in Siyanqoba and Hlalanikahle townships in 2017.
“The applicant has provided a list of 187 people it says have been allocated RDP houses with corresponding stand numbers of the allocated houses.”
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Mstweni stated that the problem was caused by some of the original settlers who rented out their homes after being relocated to the RDP houses.
According to Mtsweni, the residents failed to provide the court with reasons why they were objecting to the eviction.
Santa Village is an informal settlement that was formed about 30 years ago after residents from different areas around the Mpumalanga highveld erected structures on the municipal land.
Now, the area has a population of more than 2 000. It has no proper or formal infrastructure or services. Most of the residents built their homes with bricks and mortar, as well as zinc structures.
After the residents refused to relocate the municipality approached the court for an eviction order.
The court also ordered that before the eviction is carried out, the municipality must investigate to check if there are still some residents who settled in the area in 1993 and it must provide accommodation for them.
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It was also ordered to locate households headed by children and disabled people and provide accommodation for them.
The magistrate also stated that the residents failed to convince the court that the area was good for human settlement and also failed to support their complaint of being not properly engaged concerning the eviction.
One of the residents, 47-year-old Virginia Shabalala, who lives in a five-room house with her husband and two children, said they have nowhere to go as they grew up in that settlement.
Another resident, Dudu Kunene, said her family has nowhere to go and her husband worked hard to build the sixroom house they live in.
Emalahleni municipality spokesperson Lebohang Mofokeng has not yet responded to questions sent to him on several occasions.
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