Township tells white property speculator to go
Sheriff fails to evict former owners of homes
PENNY Thomson has learnt the hard way that, for whites, trying to be a property mogul in Khayelitsha is a costly fantasy.
Thomson bought six repossessed homes in Khayelitsha and Philippi, in the Western Cape, three years ago. But four of the previous owners are defying court orders to vacate the homes — and the community has made it clear that white landlords are not welcome. The properties have a combined value of about R1.2-million.
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town has billed Thomson tens of thousands of rands for water and rates and she has spent more than R50 000 on legal fees to gain access to her assets. She said even the sheriff — Mkhululi Ngxumza — failed to enforce an eviction order last month, so she was forced to take legal action against him.
“When . . . an eviction takes place in Khayelitsha, it is fraught with danger,” she said.
“If the property is not protected with armed security, as soon as the sheriff leaves, the evicted occupants . . . reoccupy the property. The owner must then lay a trespassing charge and take legal action through the courts, which is a lengthy process.”
The defiant Khayelitsha residents are supported by an antieviction organisation, Vukani ma-Afrika Kwanele, led by Solomon Nywebeni, the PAC’s deputy chairman in the area.
“You are a white settler, a product of thieves who robbed us of our land,” said Nywebeni of Thomson. “To hell with the sheriffs: they are puppets. Our people must be given these homes back as part of land redistribution.”
Thomson, who has lodged a rates dispute with the city because she is not benefiting from the properties, claims that one of the occupants — Easy Nofemela, who killed American student Amy Biehl in 1993 — threatened her life.
“[He] has told me directly [that] he knows where I live, insinuating violence should I pursue my claim to occupation. Easy told me that white people have no right to own land in Khayelitsha. This view was publicly voiced by the PAC in a court hearing,” Thomson said.
Nofemela, who now works for the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust, declined to comment this week, referring questions to the magistrate who ordered his eviction.
Thandeka Mnqantsa, who lives in another of Thomson’s homes, is running a crèche and letting out rooms. She said the house had belonged to her mother, who died in 2014, and that she and her family had been in talks with Thomson to buy the property.
A third home owned by Thomson is occupied by sickly 62-year-old Nokuzola Mnjanja, who used to work at Groote Schuur Hospital as a cleaner until she was boarded from her job in 1996.
She has lived in the property for more than a decade, and a court has given her until December to vacate the house.
“My house was auctioned when I fell behind on the bond. I live on a state pension; I have nowhere to go,” she said.
ANC ward councillor Patrick Mngxunyeni condemned Nywebeni’s stance, saying: “The discriminatory element is wrong.”
Regarding the failure of authorities to evict former owners from their houses, he said he knew of more than 15 such cases.
“The sheriff of Khayelitsha has numerous eviction orders that he needs to execute, but it is difficult for him.
“We can hardly intervene as councillors because we risk having our own homes torched by the community,” Mngxunyeni said.
Charmaine Mabuza, chairwoman of the South African Board for Sheriffs, said evicting Mnqantsa had proved difficult as there were children involved. The sheriff had made arrangements with the police and warned parents of the eviction so they could “safeguard their children’s safety”.
But she said Thomson had failed to arrange “security” — to prevent the reoccupation of the property — so had cancelled the process.
The eviction has been scheduled for Thursday.