Wynberg -
Several residents of the Bonnytoun informal settlement in Wynberg were left homeless on Friday after the city evicted them and demolished their structures in what the shack dwellers claim is harassment by law enforcement officers.
They are also furious that the demolition went ahead “without any court order or letter”, and despite a court interdict which says the city should leave them where they are.
Residents on the scene, sitting looking desperate among the remains of their homes, told Weekend Argus
that authorities first arrived last Saturday, “ransacked” their structures, and even set alight one resident’s clothing.
Yesterday, they returned.
Melikhaya Mangqasane, who has lived there for three years, said he heard voices and doors being kicked in.
“We’ve lost our valuables. My ID is gone with some of the stuff they took. They burnt my TV and some of my winter clothes,” he said, alleging that R150 he was given on Friday had also been taken.
“Law enforcers were sharing (out the contents of) my wallet in front of me (yesterday),” he said.
Now he has nowhere to go.
“It’s winter. You try living without a home,” Mangqasane said.
Long-time resident and former community chairman, Willa Esmando, blamed the escalating anger among the residents on lack of communication between community and forum chairwoman Mona Allie.
“Whenever the leader meets the councillor, who never comes by, we never get any feedback over what transpired from the meetings.
“We’re in the dark as to why the process of registering the evicted people has taken so long, because some of them have been here for longer than the chairwoman has been,” he said.
“Law enforcement waltzed in here with bad attitudes towards the people,” he added.
Esmando urged the city to investigate properly.
Community members said they had been living at the site, alongside the Wynberg fire station, for nearly a decade.
“The way they go about things when they take them out of the houses is wrong,” said Nokuthula Gaqavu, another long-time resident.
“The people are not dogs, and should be told to move out in a decent way before the destruction processes take place.”
After remonstrating with Esmando, Allie said the evictions were inevitable.
“The city told us further settling was illegal, so it was bound to happen. This is council’s ground,” she said, adding the city was just doing its job.
Allie said some of the shacks were protected by a court interdict dating back eight years, but that many more structures had since been built, prompting the evictions.
The city said it continually found additional structures being erected there illegally.
Tandeka Gqada, mayco member for Human Settlements, said: “It must be borne in mind that these are not structures in the true sense of the word, but more wood and cardboard-type structures.
“The city does not remove any personal belongings, but only the material used for the construction of the illegal structure.”
Gqada said anyone with complaints about possessions being removed should lay charges with the police. - Saturday Argus