Eersterust residents stand firm against government relocation amid housing crisis
Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements Tasneem Motara and City of Tshwane's MMC for Human Settlements Aaron Maluleka led a team of government officials to assess the living conditions of the residents in Eersterust.
Image: Rapula Moatshe
Eersterust residents, who illegally occupied empty land during the Covid-19 pandemic, have vowed to defy the government's imminent plans to relocate them from the area, which is considered unsuitable for housing.
This was revealed by residents on Tuesday during a visit to the area by Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements Tasneem Motara and City of Tshwane's MMC for Human Settlements Aaron Maluleka.
The pair visited the informal settlement to assess the living conditions of the residents.
They told residents about the plans in the pipeline to relocate them from the area, citing its unsuitability for housing.
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Motara said: 'The surveys that the municipality has conducted indicate that the land is not developable; it is probably because of the soil type.'
However, some residents have shown reluctance to relocate from the land.
One of them, Linah Mlanjeni, said she illegally erected her shack on the land because renting had become too expensive for her.
'Renting is very expensive for us, and mostly the job that we are doing does not pay at least R10 000 salary a month. I have the responsibility to feed myself and my children,' she said.
She expressed frustration over broken government promises of housing, questioning the claim that the land is unsuitable for building.
'They wanted to build a garage here. How can it not be suitable for building? We disagree on that. There are people who are already staying here in brick houses,' she said.
Lizzy Bosman echoed similar concerns, citing unaffordable rent, which can be at least R6 000 for a small room.
'We don't want to leave this place, it is home, we have grown up here, and now we have kids of our own,' she said.
Other residents demanded development in the area, highlighting the absence of basic amenities like toilets, clean water, and electricity.
The residents firmly reiterated their opposition to relocation, insisting they will not leave Eersterust under any circumstances.
Motara said the municipality has identified suitable land for relocation and will provide further details about it soon.
'If I tell you where the land is, then tomorrow they will invade it. We know where the land is,' she said.
She said the relocation will happen as soon as her department and Tshwane have finalised the necessary processes, which include budgeting for it.
When asked about handling those who refuse relocation, she said that relocation is necessary and there are various ways to address resistance.
For example, she said, for residents occupying Sanral land, the entity would need to obtain a court-ordered eviction.
'We have to evict those people and relocate them. That land is unsuitable for people to reside on. To avert a disaster, they have to relocate. Where? It is based on where we have land and where the project is available,' Motara said.
She urged everybody to respect the rule of law and refrain from invading land and constructing permanent structures.
Maluleka said 79 people occupying Sanral's road reserves need urgent relocation due to road construction, while the total number of residents in the informal settlement is 1 149.
'We have to acknowledge the injustices of the past that people were deprived of land,' he said.
He explained that the settlement emerged because the community felt neglected and left behind for a long time.
'We don't want to overpromise but whatever we are going to do, let's work together to be able to speed up development,' he said.
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za
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