DUNCAN Village residents yesterday blockaded the Mdantsane access road for the second time this week in protest over houses allegedly being illegally occupied in Reeston.
Tired of empty promises and “lies” from Buffalo City Metro municipality, the residents, mainly from Ward 1, closed the main road forcing commuters travelling to the East London CBD to take alternative routes.
Protesters said they had taken to the streets again to get the attention of Buffalo City Metro mayor, Zukiswa Ncita .
Ncita, who addressed protesters later in the morning, dropped a bombshell when she told residents there were no plans to give them back their houses but that the metro was rather looking to build them new houses.
On hearing the news, Nozuko Mankune, who has lived in a shack in Duncan Village for 30 years and has papers to show she is supposed to be one of the beneficiaries for the Reeston houses, burst into tears.
“Ncita never experienced the pain of sleeping in water, in a leaking shack,” she said.
“She never experienced the pain of losing a loved one through a shack fire and she never lost her only property through fire hence she is saying this. This is the pain we are going through here in this Duncan Village.
“Our houses are occupied by strangers whom when we want to remove them, threaten to kill us.”
Ncita, who only briefly attended the meeting because she had to rush to the airport, said the council was working hard to resolve Ward 1 problems.
“We won’t leave you in the dark. We are working hard to help you. Your matter is in our agenda,” the mayor said.
On Monday angry residents embarked on an illegal protest by closing the Mdantsane access road and police were forced to fire rubber bullets at protesters to disperse them.
Fourteen people were arrested and spent the night in Duncan Village police station holding cells.
Community leader Noluthando Magiba said the reason for the protests was because of unfulfilled promises by the municipality to solve their problems.
Magiba said that since 2009 they had been knocking at metro office doors begging for illegal occupiers of Reeston houses to be removed.
“We’ve been staying in these shacks for over 30 years and when we heard that our houses have been approved we were happy.
“The municipality removed some of us to the houses all to find that there were people inside already. That is when the problem started,” said Magiba.
A number of meetings were held with the municipality’s human settlement unit but nothing came from them.
“We took to the streets to voice our dissatisfaction and we will continue,” she promised.
Duncan Village has seen an influx of people moving into the area with new shacks being erected almost daily as people move to the city from rural areas to look for work.
Every piece of available land, including river banks, is being occupied, placing residents’ lives in danger when it rains.
The municipality has built thousands of RDP houses in Reeston for Duncan Village residents but many beneficiaries have not been able to move as the houses have been illegally occupied.
Ncita promised to attend to the matter next week Tuesday.
“I will attend to this because we want to build you new houses.”
She said the national Department of Human Settlements would investigate why the houses were illegally occupied.
But residents were not happy with what the mayor had to say. “Those people must move out. Any investigation must be done while they are out of those houses,” said Magiba. —
DV erupts again over housing
Tired of empty promises and “lies” from Buffalo City Metro municipality, the residents, mainly from Ward 1, closed the main road forcing commuters travelling to the East London CBD to take alternative routes.
Protesters said they had taken to the streets again to get the attention of Buffalo City Metro mayor, Zukiswa Ncita .
Ncita, who addressed protesters later in the morning, dropped a bombshell when she told residents there were no plans to give them back their houses but that the metro was rather looking to build them new houses.
On hearing the news, Nozuko Mankune, who has lived in a shack in Duncan Village for 30 years and has papers to show she is supposed to be one of the beneficiaries for the Reeston houses, burst into tears.
“Ncita never experienced the pain of sleeping in water, in a leaking shack,” she said.
“She never experienced the pain of losing a loved one through a shack fire and she never lost her only property through fire hence she is saying this. This is the pain we are going through here in this Duncan Village.
“Our houses are occupied by strangers whom when we want to remove them, threaten to kill us.”
Ncita, who only briefly attended the meeting because she had to rush to the airport, said the council was working hard to resolve Ward 1 problems.
“We won’t leave you in the dark. We are working hard to help you. Your matter is in our agenda,” the mayor said.
On Monday angry residents embarked on an illegal protest by closing the Mdantsane access road and police were forced to fire rubber bullets at protesters to disperse them.
Fourteen people were arrested and spent the night in Duncan Village police station holding cells.
Community leader Noluthando Magiba said the reason for the protests was because of unfulfilled promises by the municipality to solve their problems.
Magiba said that since 2009 they had been knocking at metro office doors begging for illegal occupiers of Reeston houses to be removed.
“We’ve been staying in these shacks for over 30 years and when we heard that our houses have been approved we were happy.
“The municipality removed some of us to the houses all to find that there were people inside already. That is when the problem started,” said Magiba.
A number of meetings were held with the municipality’s human settlement unit but nothing came from them.
“We took to the streets to voice our dissatisfaction and we will continue,” she promised.
Duncan Village has seen an influx of people moving into the area with new shacks being erected almost daily as people move to the city from rural areas to look for work.
Every piece of available land, including river banks, is being occupied, placing residents’ lives in danger when it rains.
The municipality has built thousands of RDP houses in Reeston for Duncan Village residents but many beneficiaries have not been able to move as the houses have been illegally occupied.
Ncita promised to attend to the matter next week Tuesday.
“I will attend to this because we want to build you new houses.”
She said the national Department of Human Settlements would investigate why the houses were illegally occupied.
But residents were not happy with what the mayor had to say. “Those people must move out. Any investigation must be done while they are out of those houses,” said Magiba. —
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