Residents win eviction relief
THE Phoenix Residents’ Association (PRA) scored another small victory in court on Monday when they were granted relief from forced evictions.
The housing body sought an application in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court to allow residents who had been locked out of their homes by Woodglaze Trading earlier in the week back into their homes.
A resident, Hoosen Lutchman, claimed he was illegally evicted from his home.
Lutchman claimed in court papers that employees of Bambelela Security, a company contracted by Woodglaze, had unlawfully broke down the front and rear doors of his property and changed the locks.
“They called at our homes and informed us we were in arrears with our rental without furnishing us with evidence. They notified us if we did not pay they had instructions from Woodglaze to lock us out of our home,” he said.
He added because of the lock-out, his family, including his children aged two and five, had no place to stay and spent the nights with family and friends. He also claimed his sister had no access to fresh clothes for work and his wife did not have access to her asthma medication.
Mervyn Govender, of the PRA, said: “We will not stop in our mission to expose the irregularities taking place at these complexes. We can’t be bullied into doing things.”
He added the association’s legal team was ready to pull out all the stops.
“Our team will not stop until we are victorious. Our demands are simple. We will expose all forms of corruption in this housing system,” said Govender.