A story in pictures

Photojournalist James Oatway says: “Red Ant is a documentary project that follows the notorious Red Ants eviction squad. They specialise in evicting people from condemned blocks called ‘hijacked buildings’, often dens of thieves and drug addicts — but also home to desperate families. The Red Ants are also employed to break down informal settlements built on private land. They are sometimes met with extreme violence. These clashes often result in injury and death, with casualties on both sides. Ethics and the law clash when poor people are legally evicted but have nowhere else to go.”