Literally out in the cold as shanty town is razed
34 families now sleep in the open
About 34 families will spend the second night out in the cold after the City of Ekurhuleni demolished their shacks and even burnt some of them down.
Christina Dhlamini, 52, who lives with her seven children and five grandchildren in Duduza informal settlement in Tembisa, told Sowetan that she moved into the open land next to a stream in the township on March 14 after her partner threw her out from their shac k with her children.
The eldest of her children is 32 and the youngest is 15, on whose social grant the entire family depends.
Dhlamini said Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department officers came for the first time on Wednesday and demolished all the shacks along the river.
“They came here around 11am, armed with hammers, guns, shovels and demanded that we moved out.
“They even took my little grandson by the arm and threw him out and then demolished my shack. None of the officers were wearing name tags. They even fired rubber bullets to some of the residents.
“Look how my life is. We slept in the cold yesterday and it will be the same today. What kind of government does such things to people?”
There are about 200 residents affected in total. Yesterday, they were busy trying to rebuild their shacks when Sowetan visited the informal settlement. Dhlamini’s neighbor, Dalson Chipu, 46, said her shack was first demolished on Wednesday and he rebuilt it overnight. “They came back again today. When they saw that I had rebuilt my shack, they ordered me to get out and set it alight. I have nothing now. No documents, no food, no furniture, just nothing.”
Chipu moved into the land in March after losing his job as a cleaner at Emperor’s Palace. He could not afford to pay the rent for a shack in Duduza.
Eviction during the national lockdown have caused a lot of outrage over the past month.
Last month, a video showing officials from the City of Cape Town evicting a man in Khayelitsha while he was naked in his shack shocked the country. Four law-enforcement officials have since been suspended. According to lockdown regulations, no one is allowed to evict a person who has already been living in a property before the lockdown.
However, government has consistently warned against people who have taken advantage of the regulations and invaded land thinking they cannot be removed.
The City of Ekurhuleni did not respond to questions.
What kind of government does that to people?