Schubart Park residents resist eviction

Tyres burn as residents run back into their flats during a clash with the police over their water and electricity services being cut. Picture: Masi Losi

Tyres burn as residents run back into their flats during a clash with the police over their water and electricity services being cut. Picture: Masi Losi

Published Sep 22, 2011

Share

The residents' association of the troubled Schubart Park flats in central Pretoria was seeking an urgent interdict on Thursday night to prevent the Tshwane Metro municipality from evicting flat dwellers.

Judge Bill Prinsloo was hearing the interdict after ruling that the matter was urgent.

Some residents of Schubart Park were due to be relocated because the buildings had been declared unsafe, the City of Tshwane said on Thursday.

A group of residents protested on Wednesday , saying they had had no water or electricity for two weeks.

Tyres were burnt inside the building, residents threw bricks and bottles onto the streets and a mobile toilet and car parked outside the flats were also set alight.

The residents' lawyer, Rudolph Jansen, told the High Court in Pretoria that the city needed to “meaningfully engage” with residents before following legal avenues to evict the residents.

Jansen, from Lawyers for Human Rights, contended that the City of Tshwane had executed an “opportunistic eviction”.

Tshwane chief fire officer Japie Lengoabala submitted that he deemed the buildings to be unsafe.

He said there were no fire extinguishers, and that fire hoses and couplings to which fire hoses could be connected had been stolen.

Andries Weyers, the city's technical services director testified that there water in the basement would have to be drained before the electricity supply could be properly restored.

He said the faulty electricity substation was in the basement, but that “human excrement” was being dumped down chutes to the basement, making it an unhygienic place for his crews to work.

In a statement released by the city on Thursday afternoon, it said 172 households had agreed to be moved.

The city had intended doing the relocation some time in the afternoon.

Mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa visited the complex on Thursday morning to arrange alternative accommodation for tenants.

Living conditions at the complex were declared unsafe during his visit.

“The flats are overcrowded because of illegal occupation, which has led to the water and electricity distribution problems,” the city said .

“Many tenants also do not pay for municipal services they use.” The city said it had partnered with the national government in the relocation plan. Residents were encouraged to work with the city and other parties involved.

About 5000 residents spent Wednesday night on the streets after police “evicted” them, community leader Mashao Chauke said on Thursday morning.

“Basically , we all slept outside after we were evicted. Only (some) women, children and disabled were accommodated at (a nearby) church.” Police arrested 79 people for public violence during the protests.

Three people were injured when they were shot with rubber bullets, Chauke said.

He said the building was habitable, even though there was no water and electricity.

In July 2008, four adults and a toddler died in a fire at the neighbouring Kruger Park flats. The blaze was started in protest against evictions from Schubart Park by a private security company.

In November 2008, the municipality announced it would renovate the block of flats, as they were a health hazard. -

Sapa

Related Topics: