‘Get out! Pack your bags and leave!’

Published Sep 1, 2015

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Johannesburg - Residents were fast asleep on Tuesday morning when they were woken by shouts and banging on their doors.

“Get out, get out! Pack your bags and leave!”

Panic set in as residents of Wellington Court in the Joburg CBD scrambled around in the dark, looking for candles, because the building has no electricity.

Kholeka Mkhize, 24, fell and grazed her knees as people pushed past her in their rush to get out.

Mkhize was visiting a friend when the Red Ants arrived to evict residents after a court order was granted on Monday.

Nelly Buthelezi had been living in the building since January with her five children.

“My heart is sore because I thought of the children… They have been through enough. My eldest was crying because he was scared as he did not know what was going on,” she said.

As the Red Ants went around the building, residents could only watch helplessly. One of them was Friedah Kotsane, 59, who moved into the block almost two years ago.

She and Sara Digojane, 62, shared a room in a flat, for which they paid R100 each to the person who claimed to be the owner.

Like many, she had heard there would be an eviction on Tuesday morning but had not removed her belongings because she did not believe it as there had been no formal notice.

Ernest Thunzini, who claims to have bought his flat for R16 000 years ago, said he was going to break in and move back as soon as the Red Ants had left.

Thunzini said he owned his flat and it was not right for him to be kicked out without being given a notice or a reason.

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The Star

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