An alleged demolition notice from the City of Joburg has left residents of the informal section of Cosmo City furious – ready to fight and have the area in flames. This was the collective view of most residents who attended the meeting that was said to be an action plan on how to deal with their challenges.
According to residents, they received notices on Thursday 19 March that the illegal extensions to their homes will be demolished the following day – Friday 20 March (the day they had the meeting). Their uttermost dissatisfaction is that the City gave them very short notice and also does not appear to have their interests at heart.
“Most of us are unemployed and these backrooms are our only source of income, how can they take that away from us?” stated one resident.
Another resident said the City showed lack of respect for them. “Those letters were dated 2014, how can we only receive them in 2015?” questioned the residents.
At the same time, foreign shop owners were left in despair as they had received threats that their shops will be looted. Somali shop owner Mohamed Salif said before residents went to their meeting, some youngsters told them that they are coming back to help themselves to their stock. “I just closed my shop as I cannot take this kind of threat lightly – we have seen what happened to our brothers in other areas recently,” said Salif.
Honeydew Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Karen Jacobs said their officers were busy monitoring the situation to ensure that no violence took place in the settlement.
