250 homeless after eviction
HONEYDEW RIDGE – Informal dwellers displaced after Red Ants eviction saga.
More than 250 informal dwellers in Ward 97 are seeking a place of refuge after their homes were allegedly demolished by the Red Ants on 14 March.
The Honeydew Ridge settlers on Plot 16 said they were not warned beforehand of the eviction.
They told Roodepoort Northsider that their shacks and brick houses were demolished by bulldozers and there were men carrying guns who did not ask them any questions.
The dismayed families said they were stranded on the road with their household items without an alternative plan.
Dan Moletsane, a resident and chairman of the South African National Civic Organisation said they were shown an eviction letter by the sheriff of the Roodepoort Magistrates’ Court.
“The eviction order was from 2015, ordering only 15 residents to leave the land,” he said.
A local activist Ashley Mama criticised the City of Johannesburg for being inactive.
“The manner in which the eviction took place is illegal because only 15 people knew about the eviction. Some people were at work when this happened and the ward councillor, Leah Knott only responded to the scene after several hours. This is due to the City’s inactiveness. Now families, and especially children, will have no place to sleep,” he said.
In response, Knott said this was a private land issue, and she was busy trying to organise alternative accommodation for the displaced people.
To get updates on this story visit www.roodepoortnorthsider.co.za
