15-year wait for jobs and better life yield no joy for shack people
Matsatseng folk invaded land hoping for work at cement plant
Matsatseng informal settlement in North West is not your typical shack sprawl.
Here, in the shadows of a PPC cement plant in the settlement of Slurry, 22km northeast of Mahikeng, people who occupy an invaded piece of land are troubled by prospects of eviction. Such is their uncertainty about the future that they use simple materials to build their shacks.
They use see-through plastic sheeting and pallets instead of the conventional corrugated iron. Residents said it would be easier to dismantle the pallets instead of damaging corrugated iron sheet or demolishing brick houses. Their homes offer no dignity or privacy for the families living in the area.
Magret Tsubi has found solace for her situation in God.
“We don’t have schools and [a] clinic, but we have a church. We need to pray and thank God for temporarily giving us this land,” she said.
For Samuel Mogopodi, Matsatseng has been home for 15 years. “This is like home, I cannot imagine any other place. I am not bothered by these pallets, we got used to them.
“You see the lime dust coming from the plant is affecting us, but we cannot move; we need a place to stay.”
However, 15 years ago when Mogopodi and other rural folk moved to Matsatseng – which means a crowded place – being closer to the cement plant and town was their motivation.
They had hoped the company would give them first preference when it hired general workers. With no piped water supply, residents rely on a single borehole to draw water.
Community leader George Pontwane said the owner of the land, known as Haffejee, has told them he wanted R13.5-million for the land. “He told us he can sell it to us, but we do not have that kind of money.”
Despite the health hazards posed by the cement factory, Pontwane hopes the government will help them settle at Matsatseng permanently. They have asked the department of rural development and land reform for help.
Ward councillor Pule Mokgele said there was a task team established to find out who owned the land. He said there were no records showing Haffejee as the owner.
“Those are just allegations; we are looking for Haffejee we can’t get hold of him. There are no records of the land owners.”
He said the task team was going to the deeds office in Pretoria to locate the owner of the land. He said it is only after that that government could start with its feasibility study on the land.
“We only want to follow the right channels. Immediately after we get a report we will be starting with developments.”
He’s selling to us for R13.5m, but we don’t have money