POLOKWANE – A MEMBER of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) ordered Mmusi Maimane, a cameraman and a journalist to leave Disteneng immediately during Maimane’s visit to the area last week.

Maimane visited Polokwane last Wednesday as part of the DA’s Freedom, Fairness and Opportunity tour across all nine provinces.

Maimane, set to launch the party’s Vision2029 campaign in Soweto this week, said prospects for growth in Limpopo were ample. As part of his visit, he engaged with Disteneng informal settlement residents, seeing how they lived and hearing what they needed.

However, the man said Disteneng belonged to the EFF and they won’t allow any other political party to campaign there.

DA members who accompanied Maimane on his visit told the EFF member that South Africa didn’t have a no go area.

The provincial secretary of the EFF, Jossy Buthane, said it was true that Disteneng was their territory, nor the DA or ANC were allowed there.

“No one is allowed to go and play in our area, including Maimane with his blue T-shirt. The ANC destroyed shacks, took the people’s property and left them in the cold, with nothing. When this happened, where was DA?

“Dwellers were shot with rubber bullets, treated like animals. We went there and bought them food and blankets. The EFF is always there for the poor people of Disteneng. Mmusi in his blue outfit can never address them,” said Buthane.

Limpopo DA chairperson, Bodlani Langa, said they would stage their campaign anywhere they liked. He said there was no political party that owned a village or town in South Africa.

“We will not apologise, there is no chief at Disteneng where we should go and report before we are allowed to start our campaigns. That young man was out of order and we will not allow that to disrupt the DA’s campaigns,” said Langa.

Maimane said it was wrong for the Polokwane Municipality to demolish people’s shacks and leave them sleeping in the open air. He said people had the right to get accommodation and the poor should be provided with RDP houses.

“It is heartsore to see how Frans Maboya (63) lost all his belongings when the municipal bulldozer crushed them. I will take this matter to national parliament, this is inhumane to see this man sleeping between the rubbish,” said Maimane.

One of the Disteneng dwellers, Peaceful Ngwenya from Zimbabwe, said he was not enjoying his stay in South Africa, because the Polokwane Municipality left him behind when they relocated other dwellers to Ext 106.

Another dweller, Frans Thobejane (54), said his spaza shop was demolished by the municipal bulldozers and he didn’t have any other way to generate an income.

“My children are suffering in the shack without food while municipality officers are enjoying the warmth and luxury of houses. I don’t know where to go because I’m a South African,” he said.

Polokwane Municipality spokesperson, Tidimalo Chuene, said Disteneng residents collectively represented by their leaders agreed to the relocation of excess households to a holding land referred to in this agreement as Ext 106. They also agreed that the database compiled by the municipality, particularly for Disteneng be used as the source of prospective beneficiary identification.

According to Chuene, households who were not on the official database would not be considered either in re-settlement or relocation.

“Residents who qualify and don’t have stands at Ext 78 should go to Ext 106. Unfortunately, people who qualify for stands are more than the stands available at Ext 78,” she said.

“We are committed to finalise the process to the point where we will be able to provide basic services to those extensions,” she said.

WATCH Interview with Mmusi Miamane