Pretoria - Defiantly, the woman in the picture stood up to the angry mob, and with hands outstretched, declared that no one would enter her house.
The unidentified woman was among the hundreds of residents of Olievenhoutbosch ordered by protesters to produce evidence that they owned the RDP houses they were occupying
But she was having none of it, and the group eventually moved on to the next house, leaving an atmosphere of fear in its wake.
Ward councillor Cedric Tsela wasn’t so lucky.
The protesters pelted his home with rocks, causing extensive damage to the property.
They accused him of illegally selling RDP houses in the area. Two police nyalas were stationed next to Tsela’s home as the angry community members refused to disperse.
A similar cowboy-style approach to manage RDP housing allocation was used in Atteridgeville
Extension 7 in 2015.
In that township, members of the Stimamollo Community Policing Forum, led by chairperson Jack Phahlane, went around forcefully removing people from houses that they said were not legally theirs.
Phahlane was arrested and later released, with charges against him being dropped.
And he vowed to continue.
In Olievenhoutbosch on Monday what started as a housing protest deteriorated into thuggery, and police used rubber bullets and teargas when unruly elements began looting shops owned by foreign nationals.
Three shops were looted, and the perpetrators braved the rubber bullets and managed to get away with eggs, cigarettes, airtime vouchers, mealie meal, cooldrinks and whatever they could lay their hands on.
Tsela later told the Pretoria News that representatives for the community were playing on people’s emotions and using them as political pawns for their own vendetta.
The Ward 77 councillor blamed the entire chaos, which saw the community blocking the busy R55 road from the early hours of the morning - and causing severe damage to his home - on disgruntled members of the ANC.
He said much as the memorandum had the branding of the ANC and its alliance partners, he did not believe members of the party could behave in that manner.
“There are processes that need to be followed, but when some did not get their way, they stirred up the community with baseless accusations,” he said.
“No councillor is responsible in the allocation of RDP houses. That is the sole responsibility of the Department of Housing and Human Settlements.”
The councillor said the contested RDP houses were not even in his ward and that the disgruntled community members were seemingly determined to see his home burnt down for no reason.
“Extreme damage has been caused to my home and I will take action against this hooliganism and this blatant crime.
“Should people have any evidence of any wrongdoing with the allocation of the houses, the best way forward would be to contact the relevant department and let them deal with it,” said Tsela.
Joseph Bapela, secretary-general of the SACP who led the protest, said they were calling for Human Settlements MEC Paul Mashatile to intervene and to have Tsela recalled.
Bapela claimed Tsela used projects meant to benefit the community for his own enrichment, so much so that he had garnered numerous properties and vehicles despite only earning a monthly salary of R35000 as a councillor.
In the memorandum, read by Bapela, the residents stated Tsela owned a white Ford Ranger, silver Audi A4, Toyota Hilux, BMW 1 Series and a Polo Vivo.
“He has three bank accounts used to conduct his corrupt activities and awarded himself a R2.5million contract with the assistance of the project manager.
“We want the department to conduct a lifestyle audit on his finances. The community knows that they sneak people into the houses in the middle of the night,” said Bapela.
Additionally, the memorandum called for illegal immigrants to be deported and for a properly equipped police station to be constructed in order to fight crime in the area.
Police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubela said two people had been arrested and would be charged with public violence.
Goodwill Mashele, an official from Mashatile’s office, accepted the memorandum. The MEC also promised to have an imbizo in the area.
The housing backlog in Tshwane stood at over 120 000 according to the 2014/15 Gauteng Department of Human Settlement’s annual performance plan.