Self-employed Durban mother of three fears eviction

A mother of three, who has been unable to work due to lockdown, is staring down the possibility of eviction after failing to pay rent.

*Disanksa Mutombo, is a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo currently residing in a block of flats in Durban Central.

Mutombo works as an independent beauty stylist, who has a table in Green Acre’s Passage where she does nails and eyelashes to make a living, reports Berea Mail.

Since the start lockdown on 26 March, Mutombo has not worked and thus has not been able to generate an income for rent.

“I can’t afford to pay, it is as simple as that. I am not working so where am I going to get money from,” she said.

Mutombo rents the flat for R5,000 and had two university students as tenants who shared the rent with her. The university students also left when the lockdown began.

“April was hard, I took everything I had and put it towards rent and water and electricity. For May and June, I paid nothing and that debt is weighing on my head now,” she said.

The only thing keeping Mutombo from being evicted is that her landlord has been unable to secure a court order.

Also read: A third of residential tenants won’t pay full rent this year

In the latest Disaster Management regulations for Alert Level 3, physical evictions are still prohibited but a landlord can still get an eviction notice for Level 2.

“A competent court may grant an order for the eviction of any person from his or her land or home in terms of the provisions of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act 62 of 1997 and the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998: Provided that an order of eviction may be stayed and suspended until the last day of the Alert Level 3 period, unless a court decides that it is not just and equitable to stay and suspend the order until the last day of the Alert Level 3 period,” state the regulations.

Mutombo, who came to South Africa in 2006 as an asylum seeker from war-torn DRC, has three children and relies on a SASSA grant to cover their essential needs like food, water and electricity.

Her eldest child turns 15 in November, meaning she will no longer qualify for the Sassa child grant.

Mutombo hopes she will be back at work by then.

*Not her real name.

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