Not only is it difficult to generate income under these conditions, it is also difficult to find food as shops are far away. Transport is a problem and if they manage to get a bus or a taxi, a lack of money to pay faces them. “We are prepared to seek jobs in town, but the taxi driver needs your fare,” another resident said. The terrible living conditions give rise to domestic violence and poverty leads people to go back to town to commit crime. “We are afraid that we will go to the city and turn to crime because our families are hungry,” a resident said. Another problem in Soshanguve is that the nearest police station is in Akasia, 15km away. “We are afraid to be here without the police,” residents said. Schools, it was found in the report, were non-existent in Soshanguve Ext 12, with the result that the youngsters loiter around. The residents say school authorities are not keen to enroll children from informal settlements who they believe to be “trouble makers”. “We have a crisis at the moment.” “The majority of our children are not at school, because they were denied admission. The people from De Villiershof may come here, but one thing is for sure - those kids are going to suffer,” is the opinion of another resident. According to the report, there is no doubt that the people living in De Villiershof make use of the economic and social resources of the inner city. It is stated that they will be far worse off if they were to be separated from them. It is apparent that the main employment is occasional jobs which pay very little, yet they manage to make ends meet. One occupant said he does occasional gardening and earns R45 per day. Relocating means he will have to pay R28 towards his taxi fare. Although only two children living at De Villiershof attend school, relocating to Soshanguve will mean no schooling for them. Many of the occupants complain that they cannot access health services as clinics do not recognise De Villiershof as a valid address and thus refuse to help them. Other complaints are that government officers discriminate against them and will not pay them their social grants because they live in De Villiershof. “It is better to give another address,” one said. But, all in all, the report concluded that it was best for these people to remain in the inner city.17 3.5.4 EvIA through investigating resettlement conditions: Cambodia Motivation
The Cambodia country office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR Cambodia) has recently conducted a study into the social or human impacts of
eviction and resettlement in Cambodia. The result of this project was a report, in draft form entitled “Eviction and Resettlement in Cambodia: Human Costs, Impacts, and Solutions - A Study on Selected Urban Resettlement Cases” (OHCHR Cambodia). The study was undertaken to support official undertakings from the late 1990s to handle the problem of urban poverty in a more humane
Author’s note: Further information on the application of the EvIA research and outcome of the case is awaited from the Legal Resources Centre.
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LOSING YOUR HOME ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF EVICTION