UPDATE: Anguish of tenants evicted from hijacked building in the CBD
JOBURG – Scores of people who lived inside the abandoned building on Lilian Ngoyi Street in the Johannesburg CBD attempt to find parity following an eviction on 6 June.
In the aftermath of evictions from an abandoned building in Lilian Ngoyi Street in the Joburg CBD on 6 June, a number of previous occupants have been left stranded without shelter.
Export House, which was once home to scores of people, has now been gated after a private security company was deployed to secure the building’s entrance.
An emotional Khensani Muneri (39) said despite the derelict building’s reputation as a ‘criminal paradise’, it became a place of refuge for her and her husband for close to a decade.
“I’ve been here for all these years since 2009 when they cut the electricity off,” said Muneri.
“I was struggling but it was my shelter where I used to sleep almost every day. So they’ve kicked us out and I’ve been sleeping here [on the side of the road] for two days. I have nowhere to go.”
Muneri blamed the government for the dire situation she and hundreds of other former occupants are in now.
“My government has got no shame! They have failed me. I registered for a trade license in 2004 but was never given one until today. My government has really let me down.”
Muneri’s husband, Isaac Khumalo (53), said the eviction was unlawful. He has been struggling on crutches following a vehicle accident in 2014 and said he felt at home – until now.
“We’ve been to court a couple of times in the last five or six years that they’ve been trying to evict us. The owner of the building passed away years back and the building became the property of the City. People have tricked us, telling us that they bought the building, but they’ve failed each time we went to court,” said Khumalo.
“They [Sheriff’s Office] did not give us any notice. We were surprised to see them coming into the building and chasing us out. Because I’m disabled, I’ve lost a lot of things in there, including my groceries for the whole month.” Khumalo said the way they were treated is unacceptable. “The governement we voted for are really failing the country in lots of ways. We’re losing hope and there’s lots of corruption happening.”
Attempts to obtain comment for both the sheriff’s and mayor’s office were unsuccessful at the time of publication. City Buzz will provide further updates once more information is available.
Read: Occupants of notorious hijacked building evicted in the CBD
