VEREENIGING.- The six-room of what they called home was bulldozed after a family had lived in it for more than ten years in Walkerville Smallholdings near Vereeniging recently.
Maria Mashamba (54), Annah Rammile (69) and Kokoi Molelekoa (49) told Sedibeng Ster that, “this was not land expropriation without compensation and that it was about the greedyness, mercilessness and heartlessness of the new owner.”
Acccording to the family this demolition came about when the original owner sold the farm. “The previous owner told us before he could sell the plot about the new one. The new owner told us to stop paying rent while he figured out how much to charge us when he arrived but much to our surprise, about a month later, he turned up with a bulldozer and proceeded to break our home down,” said Rammile.”
The family had to make a frenzied rush to remove their belongings. “We had no choice but to shelter under the trees. The new owner said that he was breaking the property down because he wanted to run a business there.”
The angry family condemned in the strongest terms the reaction of the new owner: “He was supposed to at-least have the decency to give us a written eviction notice. Instead, he jumped in with a bulldozer. “We are poor human beings but that does not mean a rich person can treat us like dogs. We also deserve to be treated with dignity.”
When asked about their next roof, Rammile,who is a mother of five and is from Lesotho said, “At my age, I have no choice but to return to my roots.” The new owner could not be reached for comment.
