Residents facing eviction pleas with MPs

A group of people who have been served with eviction letters from state houses in Mthatha pleaded with parliamentarians on Tuesday to facilitate the sale of the houses to them.

Residents of Greenville village, also known as KwaMpuku in Mthatha, asked public works portfolio committee chair Humphrey Mmemezi and his committee to prevent their pending eviction from the 17 prefabricated houses, saying the houses should be sold to them.

Greenville had been constructed for workers who built the Mthatha General Hospital. Leaders of the Greenville villagers told the committee that last year they were served with letters from the public works department instructing them to vacate the houses by January 1 next year.

Over the years Greenville has had illegal land occupations, with villagers building mud houses that the King Sabata Dalindyebo local municipality subsequently demolished.

MP Mncedisi Filtane described the Greenville situation as complex.

“To me it looks like public works has landed itself in a situation where they have given people leases on a site that basically allocated to the department of health,” he said.

“We want to make sure that we speak to the residents and sit down with the minister and find amicable solution to the plight of these residents.”

He said they would get back to the residents.

They were served with letters instructing them to vacate the houses