Mr. Thrakele Nkosi digs a hole with only the head of a pickaxe to erect the pillars of his hut. (Kimberly Mutandiro/Ground Up)
- Johannesburg Metro Police raided a house in Lovey Ridge for the sixth time last weekend.
- Approximately 100 houses were demolished.
- The occupation of the former coronavirus prevention campground began in August last year.
On Saturday, an exhausted Thrakele Nkosi was digging holes for the pillars of his hut, using only the head of a pickaxe.
The day before, she had witnessed the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) demolishing her one-room zinc home in the Pumula Mukasi informal settlement in Laby Ridge, near Tembisa, for the sixth time.
Her home was demolished twice in September, twice in November, again in February, and this time in April. This time, law enforcement seized her materials.
She doesn't have the money to buy zinc sheeting, so she plans to rebuild it using boards she collected from a nearby dump.
A 52-year-old widow learned how to build a cabin herself.
In August 2023, with the aim of decongesting informal settlements, land off Modderfonetin Street, which had been temporarily sheltered and fenced during the COVID-19 lockdown, was cleared. It was occupied by about 100 families, most of whom lived in backyards.
Thieves then cleared the place.
The occupiers believed that because it was city land, the city would accept the settlement and provide services.
Read | Approximately 1,000 shacks demolished by JMPD and Red Ants in Johannesburg
They claimed that ANC politicians campaigning recently told them they were safe.
On April 18, surprisingly, the police destroyed 100 huts.
Ward 80 councilor Melody Hlatshwayo (ANC) told GroundUp that the land was illegally occupied by people who had come from Orange Farm, Hammanskraal and Day Beitong after hearing that the land would be developed.
She said apartments would be built for people in Lovey Ridge who have been waiting for a home for more than 30 years. He said there were seven informal settlements in the area and development would alleviate this.
“All we want is to be able to live on the land because we have nowhere else to go,” said Dineo Mokoena, a community representative.
Muraliseni Khumalo, his wife and two children moved here because they could no longer pay the rent. He has a disability and says the housing authority promised to allocate him an apartment in Ward 45, but that never happened.
He said:
We lost a lot of stuff during the demolition… It hurts that the government treats us like this when we desperately need a home.
Lindelwa Shoba has three children and seven grandchildren. She enrolled in her RDP house in 2004.
“I've been voting for years hoping to get a house, but to no avail,” she said. “We’re not working, so what do they want us to do?”
The City of Johannesburg did not respond to our specific questions, but in a joint statement on April 5, the City of Johannesburg and the Gauteng Government said: You are warned to resist the temptation to illegally encroach on land or government property, only to lose your hard-earned money and investments during eviction.
“The government will continue to work with courts, developers and the police to enforce eviction orders for illegal activities such as land and home invasions.”