Residents of the Siyahlala informal settlement in Brandvlei took to the streets on 23 April demanding that houses built behind the informal settlement be released for occupancy.
The houses have been standing vacant for more than two years already and contractors were hired last year to repair damage as most of the houses were badly vandalised.
Residents blockaded roads in the are with burning tyres and schooling at the local primary school was interrupted.
According to residents of the area, their anger and frustrations emanate from the fact that the Randfontein Local Municipality has been ignoring their pleas for proper services and houses.
“The Randfontein Local Municipality is taking us for fools and we will not have it any longer,” says one irate resident.
“They have built houses behind our settlement and those houses remain unoccupied whilst we are living in shacks.
“This just goes to show that the council is dangling a carrot in front of our eyes.
“They have no intention of placing us in those houses and for that we will wreak havoc.”
Police maintained a high level of visibility in the area and were forced to fire rubber bullets in an effort to control the the violent crowd.
Despite efforts of police to control the situation, it was the rain that came to the rescue and caused the angry crowd to scatter and seek shelter.
According to Randfontein municipal spokesperson, Lucky Chiya, the municipality cannot simply allocate houses to residents of the area.
“People need to understand that we cannot give away houses because we do not have the authority to do so. That duty lies with the Department of Local Government and Housing.
“People need to be aware that they should have applied for houses and be listed on the demand database for housing prior to their receiving any houses,” says Chiya.
