Land invasion, which has become a worrisome buzz word and at times, even a nightmare for property owners throughout the country, has from time to time also been a concern for local residents over the years, who fear for their security and a drop in their property valuation, as soon as a shack is erected in the area.
As job opportunities diminish, due to Covid-19, resulting in an economic decline, more and more South Africans, who are unemployed, are moving to the bigger cities such as Tshwane and Johannesburg, hoping to find employment or other economic opportunities. To add to this influx into the cities, many foreigners, mainly from neighboring countries, but even from other parts of the world, are flocking to South Africa, for economic opportunities.
As these people desperately look for jobs, many of them are forced to put up shacks on any vacant piece of land, as they cannot afford the high accommodation rentals.
Zooming into Laudium, a local resident is living in fear, after shacks were being erected behind his property this past weekend. Suresh Surgoo, a pensioner from Bengal Street, told the Laudium Sun, “On Sunday, at around 5pm, I heard some noises coming from a vacant piece of land, right behind my yard. My back wall faces the hill leading to Atteridgeville and Itireleng. When I looked out, I noticed a group of people, on the vacant piece of ground, cleaning the ground and then starting to erect about 20 shacks. I think they were from Itireleng. Many other residents from the neighborhood also saw these people erecting the shacks there, as the vacant ground stretches behind many of our houses. Some of the residents immediately called the Police and the Metro Police who just looked around and then went away. Now, these shack dwellers came to my house on Monday [July 12] at around 7am and threatened to kill me or burn my house down. Some of them were even armed. They accused me of calling the Metro Police. They told me that they will not move from there and will continue building their shacks. I’m old and I don’t want any trouble. I do not mind anyone building a place to live, as long as they are following the laws of the country and not harming others. I do not own the land behind my house, which I think the council owns, nor do I own the country. I just have this small home, where I have been living with my family for more than 30 years, since 1988. I am very worried now and I am living in fear. I have used my hard-earned money over the years to improve our property, but now they are threatening to burn it. All my hard work will go to ashes. I think someone lied to these squatters and told them that I called the police, which is not true. My family and I can’t even sleep peacefully now, because we don’t know what will happen to us. My wife is not well and she is old. I tried to inform the police but no one seems to take my reporting seriously.”
Tumelo Molefe, one of the shack dwellers who was spotted at the vacant land on the hill, which is directly behind the home of Suresh, told the Laudium Sun, “My family and I do not have a place to live now. Since the lockdown and Covid-19, we have lost our jobs, and the place where we were living in, they chased us away, as we could not pay the rent. Therefore, we have no option but to look for other means to find shelter. We did not build on anyone’s private land, so I don’t know why the residents want to chase us away from here. We are struggling and we expect the residents of Bengal Street to understand, because not only will we have a place to live here, but we will protect them from criminals who regularly come from the hills. I think it is a racist mentality that every time, when they see black people come closer to them, they think of crime and noise.”
Councilor Mahomed Essop, said, “I have informed the relevant department of the Council as well as the Metro Police, to inspect the area and to find a solution for both sides.”
