Ekurhuleni - Property owners in Windmill Park near Boksburg are angry about being targeted by residents of Holomisa informal settlement.
A violent service delivery protest took place recently during which residents of the squatter camp blockaded the entrance to Windmill Park, claiming they were promised RDP houses on the land on which the suburb is built.
A resident who identified herself as Nomsa said she was concerned about her safety.
“We are already dealing with criminal elements and security issues. This latest incident has me questioning if I made the right decision buying a property here. What happens next time when they forcibly enter the suburb and we are at work?” she asked.
“They threw stones into the suburb and there was a point where we were readying ourselves to pelt them with stones right back.
“This is our money, our investments also. They must sort out their issues with their government, not us,” she said.
Cosmopolitan Projects, which developed the piece of land on which Windmill Park Ext 21 stands, said it had always been privately owned and that at no point was it earmarked for RDP housing.
Cosmopolitan Projects spokesperson Mbuso Mhlanga said: “Cosmopolitan will always assist our clients and secure its developments as far as possible but cannot be held liable for addressing criminal activity which warrants urgent address by the SAPS.
“It is unfortunate that certain individuals are once again distorting the facts to incite residents and create an environment of instability based on false information and manipulation.”
According to Cosmopolitan Projects the issue arose in 2015 when some of the residents claimed that this land had been promised to them for RDP housing by local council in 2006.
Mhlanga said the local ward councillors had told them that the land promised for development of RDP housing was a different plot of land.
According to him the matter was then resolved until the protests flared up last week.
“It is crucial that the local council engage with the community of Holomisa to address and resolve their grievances and clarify the facts, which have no bearing on the residents of Windmill Park X21 and the private land on which the suburb was developed,” Mhlanga said.
It’s not the first time residents of Holomisa informal settlement have taken to the streets demanding service delivery.