Wetlands families homeless after evictions
Enforcement agencies did not provide families with an eviction order
SIXTEEN families, including a pregnant woman, have been evicted from a piece of land they occupied next to the wetland in Masiphumelele, leaving 50 people homeless.
The city says the evictions, earlier this week, were an effort to ensure the wetlands, situated at the back of Site 5 informal settlement, were not invaded because they posed an extreme flood risk.
Pregnant Pamela Julayi had her one-room shack demolished on Sunday, leaving her to stay with extended family. When the City of Cape Town law-enforcement agencies, with the help of the Red Ants, demolished her shack, her furniture and building material were damaged.
She said her health deteriorated and she was worried about the health of her unborn child.
“How are they expecting me to sleep outdoors while I am pregnant?” asked Julayi, who said she had been living on the piece of land for the past four months.
“I pleaded with them but they would not listen.”
When law enforcement came to evict the shackdwellers for a second time yesterday, Luvuyo Mrwetyana’s one room, which he shares with his younger half-brother, Sikho Mgandlela, was razed.
Mrwetyana does not know where they will go. “Rent is too high and I don’t have permanent employment. My brother does not work and I must provide for him, which means there is no money for rent.” Mrwetyana said what made him resist the eviction and rebuild his shack after it had been demolished was that law-enforcement agencies did not provide the families with an eviction order.
Instead, the city said it had been granted a court interdict and warnings were also issued to the people erecting structures.
“When they evict people, they should provide alternative accommodation. We are voting citizens and deserve better,” said Mrwetyana.
Mayco member for informal settlements, water and waste services and energy, Xanthea Limberg, said the city removed illegally erected structures “as per the common law remedy and the interdict that the city has in place”.
“This is in an effort to ensure that the wetlands, which are dry at the moment and which are looking enticing to residents to settle on, are not invaded,” she said.
Limberg said the wetlands held extreme flood risks. “The city must ensure that illegal occupation is not to the detriment of its current housing project and its legitimate beneficiaries in the area,” she said, adding that occupying land illegally made it very difficult for emergency vehicles to reach areas.