Demolitions spark protest
EERSTERUST: COPS, RESIDENTS CLASH OVER WHAT OFFICIALS SAY WAS ILLEGAL OCCUPATION
According to some protesters, owner gave them permission to build shacks on the property.
Ahaze of smoke covered Eersterust yesterday morning when angry residents burnt tyres and clashed with police after their shacks were demolished during an eviction.
Hundreds of residents were left stranded and destitute when about 100 shacks were destroyed by Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) and the South African Police Service (Saps). Their belongings were also confiscated.
According to some of the residents, they were given permission by the land owner to occupy the property. After getting permission, the residents said they immediately erected shacks on Tuesday.
Some told The Citizen they even took out loans to buy material to build the shacks.
But their new homes were demolished yesterday morning, leading to chaos and violence between residents and police.
The enraged residents pelted cops with rocks and bottles. The police retaliated by firing rubber bullets at the protesters.
One of the residents, Harbert Hartell, was shot in the face.
Speaking with a bloody jaw and swollen cheek, he said the protest would have been peaceful had they been given a chance to explain themselves to the police.
“We have been doing this protest very peacefully. Look at me. Look how I got shot. When they shot me, I asked them why but they kept on shooting. If the police had come to us and spoken to us, we would have explained things to them,” he said.
Chanting ons soek huise (we want houses), most of the protesters claim they had applied for housing a long time ago but received no help from government.
Janette Abrahams, a single mother of four, said she was disappointed at being evicted as she was happy to have found a place to settle with her family.
“If [government] can accommodate us and give us a stable place for our children to stay, this thing will never happen.
“I’ve been on a waiting list for more than 13 years, waiting for an RDP house, which I’ve never seen.
“Every time we ask for land, they tell us it’s for white people or owned by someone else. But the owner never comes forward to say this is their land.”
The vacant land in question is owned by the City of Tshwane, which was granted a court order to evict the occupants, TMPD spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said.
“The land in question belongs to the City of Tshwane and there were structures that were erected illegally,” he said.
“The city went to court to obtain a court order to demolish those illegal structures and it was granted. Hence, TMPD accompanied the service provider to demolish the unoccupied illegal structures.”
TMPD would continue to monitor the situation, Mahamba said.