Durban - Tenants fear they might be left out on the street because they cannot afford to pay their rent during lockdown.
A woman, who declined to be named, said she rented a room in a flat in the Durban CBD with her partner and two children, aged 5 and 2.
They pay R2 500 for the room and share the kitchen, bathroom and toilet with another tenant.
Her partner is employed at a restaurant. She is unemployed.
The woman, 40, said when her partner received his salary in March, he used the money to stock up on food.
“When President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the lockdown in March, I knew it would be extended because similar decisions were taken by other countries. I knew my partner would not be able to work in April and we needed to stock up on food, especially for my children.”
She said she notified the landlord about her decision to buy food instead of paying the rent. “The landlord was understanding throughout April, but from May 1 he demanded the two months’ outstanding rent and has since threatened to evict us despite the government saying landlords are not allowed to do this during the lockdown.”
She said she promised to pay him once her partner returned to work.
“I fear he will forcefully remove us. We don’t have anywhere else to go and I don’t want my children living on the streets. Our groceries are now finished and we are living on food hampers from non-profit organisations.”
A father of two, of Phoenix, said he rented an outbuilding in Unit 8. The 35-year-old part-time worker at a construction company lives with his wife and children, aged 5 and 7. His wife is unemployed.
He pays R2 000 rent, which includes water and electricity.
“I paid the rent at the end of March and with the money I had left I bought food. I was unable to pay rent in April because I did not work that month. The landlord wants his rent because they depend on the money to pay their bills. The landlord said if I don’t pay, I cannot stay there. I told him he could not kick me out during the lockdown, but we fear we could be left on the streets.”
The man said their family assisted them with groceries last month.
“Our families are also not well off but every week they helped us with a few canned items and bread. We also collected a food parcel.”
At the beginning of the lockdown, Ronald Lamola, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, announced no evictions could be carried out during this period.
Dr Sayed Iqbal Mohamed, from the KZN Rental Housing Tribunal, said in terms of the lockdown regulations no person might be evicted from their place of residence. This was regardless of whether it was a formal or informal residence, or a farm dwelling.
“Any tenant threatened with eviction, or who is in the process of being evicted, must report it to the nearest police station since evicting a person (during lockdown) is a criminal offence,” said Mohamed.
“We intervened for a group of tenants in Durban last week, who acted on our advice. They contacted the police, who stopped the landlord from evicting them.”
Mohamed said these were challenging times for tenants and landlords, and in particular the poor, old and single-headed households who struggled to meet their rental obligations.
“There are landlords who can reduce or write off rentals, but most landlords rely on the rental income to survive. Rental subsidies ought to be rolled out for struggling tenants, something which was entrenched 19 years ago in the preamble to the rental housing act 50 of 1999. The subsidy would help struggling landlords as well.”