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EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2013
NEWS
Going, going, gone . . . THESE pictures were taken on Thursday when the illegally erected shacks at Fouriesburg and Paul Roux were removed by the Red Ant, a task force team from Johannesburg.
AN old man saves his pots during the eviction.
RED ANT members destroy illegally erected shacks at Fouriesburg.
Photos: Tladi Moloi
THREE boys run for their lives after insulting Red Ant members.
RED ANT members dismantling houses at Paul Roux.
Residents of shacks see red } Tladi Moloi PEOPLE were left homeless in the Eastern Free State after they were evicted from their illegally erected shacks by the no nonsense Red Ant task force team from Johannesburg on Thursday. The men in red and black were hired by the Dihlabeng Local Municipality to evict people who illegally occupied municipal land at Fouriesburg and Paul Roux. This action that left people fuming started at Fouriesburg, where “Phuma Sbethane” was swept. “Hlokoloza” at Paul Roux followed. “I wish I could die. I thought they would use a bulldozer to destroy our shack and I had decided that they would kill me in there. I lived on a farm before this, because I was working there,” Lebotsa Mokotso (75), who had a shack at Fouriesburg, said. Express Eastern Free State has learnt many people who were on the land were from the nearby farms while others claimed that they were renting in the Mashayeng location. Malefetsane Thabane (26) from Paul Roux said they were told to vacate the area, but they never did, because they had nowhere else to go. He said they had lived there for a year. “I do not know where to go now. I was living with my 58-year-old mother. I am not working and I cannot afford to rent,” he said. Even though people at Fouriesburg were told
to vacate the land on Tuesday by Tjhetane Mofokeng, the executive mayor, some were only trying to save their belongings on the day. Mofokeng had told them to take their belongings and leave, but they promised a war. Even though resistance was expected, they could only watch from a distance as their shacks were dismantled. “We cannot let people occupy the municipality’s land illegally. We know that people are in need of sites, but we should follow the right channels. “There is no electricity, water and roads on the site and the same people will be the ones marching to our offices demanding service delivery,” he said. He said it was not fair to the municipality that they were asked where those people would be taken, while the question of where they were coming from was not posed. However, residents were shocked by what Olly Mlamleli, the MEC for Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements, said in an interview with one of the radio station the same day. “I was only informed about the Fouriesburg eviction. I do not know anything about the one of Paul Roux.” She added that they would investigate and send people in Paul Roux to check the situation. “It was not the government’s intention to leave people homeless,” she concluded.