Pretoria - Illegal occupants of new RDP houses near Heatherley Cemetery in Mamelodi East have vowed to continue occupying the houses and fight back if evicted.
"We are here to stay - these are our houses. "This is not a political statement, but a community-driven initiative," they declared on Monday.
The residents have been occupying new RDP houses since Friday and claim to have obtained keys from a security guard. However, there was no security guard when the Pretoria News went to the site.
The houses are still incomplete and have no taps or basic services such as electricity meters and running water.
Mattresses and food parcels were visible through the windows of the houses. Each house has the name of its occupants sprayed on the wall. They have named the place Asinavalo Estate.
The residents said they could not wait any longer for the city to allocate the houses, which they added were empty and being vandalised, or sold to foreign nationals.
"I was staying at home with my parents and we are a large family in a small house. I qualify for a RDP house, so we can't watch these houses stand here unoccupied while we are struggling," said a resident who refused to be named.
They claimed that other RDP houses in Mamelodi East were occupied by people who were neither local residents nor South Africans.
Most of the occupants said they were unemployed and looked forward to getting settled at Asinavalo. "This is home; I want my children to be excited when they think of coming home," said another occupant.
The residents said they were prepared to fight for the houses in the event that they were evicted.
"We would rather die if needs be, but we are not going anywhere. We are not fighting anyone, but if we are evicted we will fight back," a resident said.
They said they wanted nothing to do with new executive mayor Solly Msimanga as the houses were not built under his leadership.
The occupants said they were demanding that MEC for Human Settlements Paul Mashatile addressed them about the way forward.
City of Tshwane spokesman Lindela Mashigo said the houses were not ready for occupation. Water reticulation had to be considered before occupation and the city was waiting for electricity upgrades.
Mashigo said there were approved beneficiaries who applied between 1996 and 1998.
"The beneficiaries consist of women, who are in the majority, the elderly and disabled. The beneficiary administration has been finalised and allocation will be done in due course," he said.
Mashigo said inspections were conducted on a continual basis by the contractor on-site, who was in constant touch with both the city and the provincial government.
Those who were not the rightful owners or beneficiaries of these houses would be evicted, he added.
Pretoria News