Cato Crest shacks demolished

DURBAN 10-09-2014 Martha Chofe with her son near thair demolished house at Mayville. PICTURE: Sibonelo Ngcobo

DURBAN 10-09-2014 Martha Chofe with her son near thair demolished house at Mayville. PICTURE: Sibonelo Ngcobo

Published Sep 11, 2014

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Durban - Several families were left homeless on Wednesday when their shacks in Cato Crest were demolished by the eThekwini Municipality’s land invasion unit.

Eleven shacks, which had been up for about a week, were razed.

Martha Chofe, 33, said she was moved out of her empty shack at gunpoint while she was preparing to settle in. Chofe said the shack was new and she had paid R550 for it to be built, excluding the material.

“I have two children of 7 and 7 months. I just wanted to give them a better home because we were squashed where we were renting,” she said.

Chofe said she had begged the unit not to destroy her shack, but they would not listen. “They told me they were going to demolish and that I can rebuild it tomorrow,” she said, with tears rolling down her face.

Chofe said she had also been informed by the unit that they were demolishing shacks that had no furniture.

“They did not care that I was there and, because I was scared of their guns, I could not resist but had to let them destroy my home,” she said.

Ndabo Mzimela, the secretary for Abahlali Basemjondolo, a shack dwellers’ movement, said that because of previous evictions, many of their members had been displaced and were not given alternative homes.

“If the municipality does not give people places to live, where must they go?” he said.

Although they were not promoting land invasions, Mzimela said that unless the municipality gave people houses, invasions would not stop.

“People are desperate. Maybe to municipal officials, these are just shacks, but to us they are homes. Shelter is the right of every citizen,” he said.

DA councillor Halalisani Ndlovu said what was happening at the informal settlement was “inhuman” and that residents were being victimised.

“Where are these families supposed to go if they are evicted in such a manner? We are going to request the eviction order to see if it is legal,” he said.

Municipal spokesman Thabo Mofokeng said that the municipality had a zero-tolerance attitude when it came to land invaders because they delayed development.

“These operations are going to continue throughout the city. People need to be patient because the municipality is working on housing and it cannot happen overnight,” he said.

The Mercury

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