Video: Empumelelweni residents demand answers for demolished houses
The residents said they have been lawfully staying in the area of which they found as almost a forest “before it was cleaned,” for seven months without any problems
It does not only rain but pours for “New Settlements” residents in Empumelelweni, in a bid to live gracefully in their community.
Sphiwe Ncube alongside 50 others said they had to endure the cold winter nights sitting by the fire they made to keep warm, after they were left homeless and stranded yet again, by law enforcement who came to demolish their houses on Monday, June 15.
“We did not have any choice but to sleep here because we do not have places to sleep. You can imagine, they are parents here with kids who are also affected,” he said.
“We are so heartbroken because they have left us from the beginning to build our shacks here and then they came back two weeks ago to demolish our houses, without any notice we do not know what they are thinking, we slept there the whole night and there are pregnant women and kids. What does the government say?”
The community on Monday after their houses were destroyed said they went to the house of their ward councillor hoping to get assistance but “it was more pain than gain.”
“I was told to demolish my own house while pointed with a gun, my kids watched me and they also pointed my 12-year-old son with a gun; he ran away crying. It is so painful now I do not have a place to sleep, it was raining last night, and I was on my feet with my own children. Imagine if it is your house and they tell you this place is not suitable for occupation but still, we had electricians from Eskom who came to check the landscape in order to install electricity for the community. Why are they coming for those purposes without notice from the municipality? So today they have destroyed our houses and they are saying they will be back for the rest,” said a mother of two who also wished to be named anonymous.
“They are sleeping comfortably with electric blankets, but here we are with no place to sleep. Even tonight we will sleep outside,” she added.
The residents said they have been lawfully staying in the area of which they found as almost a forest “before it was cleaned,” for seven months without any problems.
Mr Frans Motla who also resides in the area said he was disappointed by the approach the law enforcement took, to leave them homeless without prior notice and a temporarily place to stay.
“At least they should have told us before that ‘you have two weeks to vacate your premises’ we would’ve made plans to find alternatives than being stranded like this. Now I am unemployed, I do not have a home, no food and my bed were also burnt. This is so painful, we are supposed to be practicing lockdown regulations; we cannot even wash our hands,” he added.
The municipal media liaison, Mr Lebo Mofokeng, in response to the questions send by WITBANK NEWS said the municipality received information that they were people who illegally move into an area meant to be developed.
“Initially the municipality has allocated about 182 families in the area before the National Lockdown, then due to lockdown the process stopped and people took advantage and moved in.”
He added that the people whose structures were demolished were not on the list identified for the settlement.
“There is a circular sent out to municipalities to ensure that municipalities do not allow any invasions during this lockdown period and as a result, we had to enforce the law,” he explained adding that “we only demolished empty shacks without people.”
The matter was escalated to the Humans Right Commission by the branch leader from SANCO in the settlement Mr Sbusiso Ndlovu, who said the commission acknowledged the receipt of their complaint “and will respond in due course.”
