‘We will do what they did in Ukraine’
A 5-YEAR-OLD boy from Bayview, Chatsworth, was looking forward to his father buying a bunk bed for their new room. He wanted to sleep at the top while his 2-year-old sister would take the bottom bed.
But it was not to be. Last Friday, officials from eThekwini Municipality arrived with armed security and a bulldozer to tear down the structure they called a “bedroom”. According to eThekwini, it was built illegally.
The original flat, situated on Floss Street, was a single room with a toilet.
Owned by eThekwini, it was rented out to Maria Magdalene Gunnie, 30 years ago. She lived there initially with her two sons. They slept and cooked in the room. The toilet doubled as a bathroom.
A few years ago, Gunnie’s youngest son married. The couple subsequently had two children, and the single room was no longer big enough. Further complicating the situation was the fact that her older son was addicted to drugs.
“My eldest son became addicted to drugs about 19 years ago and even though I have tried to help him clean up, it has been a struggle. He is still addicted. He walks in and out of the flat at any time of the day or night. He also keeps the TV on until early in the morning. I have cried for years but he is still my child. I could not throw him on the street,” said Gunnie, who is now 51.
Initially she asked the municipality to rent another flat, that had become vacant in their building, to them. She said she was not only rejected but also humiliated by municipal staff.
Five years ago, the family decided to build a single room and toilet alongside her flat. They used money that had been given to them by Gunnie’s now late father.
However, they did not get official permission to do so.
According to Gunnie, the municipality turned a blind eye to the structure.
Then, a few months ago, the family decided to add a second room to the structure.
“My son, his wife and children were all sleeping in one bed and there was no space to put any other furniture. My son said the children were growing up and it would be nice for them to have their own room,” she said.
“He works as an e-hailing driver and saved some money. He used this to build a second room for the children.
“I still remember my grandson’s excitement when he told me that his dad was going to buy bunk beds. He said he was going to sleep at the top and his sister at the bottom of the bunk. He said he was a big boy now and wasn’t scared. Those words continue to ring in my head.”
Within a few weeks of completion of the room, a municipal official arrived with a notice ordering them to remove the structure within 14 days. If they failed to do so, the matter would go to court. The official also asked Gunnie to provide reasons why they needed the structure.
“This gave me hope and I wrote down all the reasons. The official even took the letter I wrote when he left. He didn’t say anything about demolishing the building,” she said.
Two days later, the official returned with armed security.
“They surrounded the place. I asked him what was happening but he ignored me and asked one of the men to start knocking down the building. This guy started hitting the side wall of the new room with a chopper. I ran towards him, screaming for him to stop.”
According to Gunnie, the men did not have much success breaking down the structure. They left, but returned on Friday with a bulldozer.
“About 20 men rushed inside our house. One official screamed: ‘Get out you charous! You charous think you clever! If you don't get out, we will do what they did in Ukraine’.
“We were still inside when they started breaking the walls. If I didn’t grab my son he would probably have been crushed. My daughter-in-law and I were assaulted as they pushed us outside.”
Gunnie said they watched helplessly as the walls were broken and the furniture destroyed.
“I can still picture my child’s face as he cried and begged them to stop. We watched as the wardrobe with the children’s clothes was destroyed. But nobody listened. I lifted my hands to the sky and prayed to the Almighty to help us. Finally, they stopped. They left without saying a word.”
Gunnie said they now feared the municipality would also remove the initial room they had built.
“It is upsetting that during the floods even people living in makeshift homes were given temporary housing, food and clothes.
“But now, they’re destroying homes. What the floods didn’t do to us, the government has.”