There’s heavy traffic congestion in Rabie Ridge, Midrand, and surrounding areas on Monday morning, as informal settlement residents are protesting after their shacks were destroyed by private security forces over the weekend.
Republic Road and Dale Road was closed down with stones and wooden beams.
The two road exits in Ebony Park and Kaalfontein are experiencing heavy traffic.
The protest is due to the ongoing illegal occupation of land. This happened from 3am on Monday when residents were stopping cars and pedestrians around the area.
The residents blocked roads with burning garbage, tyres, and stones.
Police only responded after the damage had been done to the area.
More than 1,000 shacks, and wooden and brick houses were demolished in Glen Austin near Rabie Ridge and Mayibuye over the weekend, as the land is said to be privately owned.
Some of the residents confirmed to IOL that they have paid from R500 to over a thousand just to erect their shacks.
“We just paid and no one gave us documents or anything to show that we are going to stay here,” a voice came from the group.
Responding to the issue of legality, a resident, who did not want to be named to protect herself from an angry crowd, secretly told IOL that the reason for them to erect shacks is because they don’t have shelters and the government is doing nothing.
“Yes, the majority here are foreigners who are homeless, but at least the government must do something to protect us. If they demolish our shacks, where are we supposed to go?” she asked.
This is not the first time that unscrupulous people have claimed to own land, and taken money from desperate people in exchange for a piece of land to build.
Last month, IOL reported about the area and how hijacked, abandoned, dilapidated buildings, and shacks have become home for many families in Gauteng in recent decades as the province is increasingly under threat of overpopulation.
Over 3,000 shacks have been constructed in the area.
This is as South Africans are heading to national and provincial elections on May 29.
The SA Police Service and the City of Johannesburg were not immediately available for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.