WATCH: Jackson Informal squatters forcibly removed by JMPD
The COURIER tried to call the councillor several times but the phone was on voicemail all the time.
Residents of Jackson Informal Settlement in Eikenhof are crying foul after some of them were forcibly removed and their makeshift shacks demolished by JMPD on February 20.
These residents of Ward 122 contacted the COURIER as their last hope because they said no one wants to help them.
WATCH:
Community leader Mongameli Arosi said they had a meeting on weekend with their councillor, Ace Mokoenyane, who promised them that they were not going to be removed.
“He told us that Eskom is promising to install electricity in the area. He also knew that there were people who live in this area who are desperately in need of a place to stay. This area was the only area close to us which our people can build shacks. We were amazed when we saw trucks from JMPD. They came here and demolished all the shacks and took almost everything without any notice. Now our people are destitute as there no alternative accommodation for them. We tried to house them in some of the shacks nearby,” he said.
Portia Genu, who is a committee member at Jackson squatter camp, said they are really despondent because every time ‘these politicians’ want votes they come to them.
When the community needs them, however, they are nowhere to be found. “We called our councillor who lived in Zakariyya Park. The phone rang unanswered and eventually, it was switched off. We are on our own here,” she said.
WATCH:
The COURIER tried to call the councillor several times but the phone was on voicemail all the time. One other ‘official’ whom the COURIER contacted said these people were invading the land illegally and that is why they were removed. He also mentioned that he was not supposed to speak to the media. The number he gave the COURIER to phone rang unanswered.
Since 1990, the Jackson squatter camp has received little infrastructure development and its residents feel neglected. The taps are on the streets, there are no flushing toilets, no proper streets and no electricity.
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