Beneficiaries of a housing project in Eerste River will have to wait a little longer for their house keys after a group of residents opposed to having “outsiders” from Gugulethu prevented them from moving in at the weekend.
On Thursday, residents went on the rampage, throwing bottles and stones in clashes with police over the housing project in Beverly Road.
They were reacting to the Western Cape Department of Housing’s decision to give houses from the Our Pride project in Eerste River to beneficiaries from Gugulethu.
Security guards said the people from Gugulethu were supposed to be moving in yesterday, but no one had arrived by the time the Cape Times visited the area.
They said the people were turned away when they arrived with their furniture.
An armoured police vehicle was parked at the entrance of the complex in case more violence flared up.
“They are housing people from other places here and there are people who have been waiting for houses for a long time. It doesn’t make sense to have people from Gugulethu,” resident Colin Lawerlot said.
He said scores of backyarders had been desperately waiting for a house in Eerste River. “They are all living in wendy houses in backyards.”
Corrine Meyer, who lives in front of the housing project, said they would protest until the problem of homes had been resolved by the housing authorities.
“We are protesting because we don’t want people from Gugulethu, people from Mitchell’s Plain. There are people who live in backyards,” Meyer said, adding that they were monitoring the area to see if people moved in.
“People are sitting through the night to see (whether) the people are moving in. People even came here with their furniture.
“On Thursday people were throwing stones. I was also shot at. I have been on the waiting list for 32 or 33 years, but you will find a 22-year-old gets a house. How is that possible?” Meyer asked.
Another resident, Sandra Botha, said she had been on the housing waiting list for 20 years and could not sit around and watch “outsiders” benefit.
Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela said the 300 beneficiaries from Gugulethu would move in “come hell or high water”.
“There are no outsiders here – these are people from South Africa. If people think Eerste River is an island, we are going to use force. If you go to Gugulethu, you will see that there are no prospects of development. There aren’t any big enough sites. Those people are going to move in. We are not going to create a race class. We’re talking about integration,” Madikizela said.