Two hundred Fynbos families have been left in the dark since RDP houses under construction were illegally occupied by residents in June this year.
Community leader Moses Groenberg told the Dispatch during a protest yesterday that the rightful owners of the houses had not received communication from the municipality on the matter.
He said they were removed from their shacks from the area in 2015 to temporal house structures; however, BCM had not set foot in the area since then.
“In 2015 were moved to this place. We were told that we would only stay here for six months but no one has bothered to come and update us about anything since then. We have been talking with the municipality on numerous occasions yet they have failed us till now. They just tell us stories.”
The Dispatch has seen a copy of the list with names of people who claim to be the legal owners of the houses. “We have site numbers yet the houses are occupied by other people.”
Olga Phamlana said “We are neglected. We were at the municipal offices on Tuesday to inquire about this but they always promise to help us and nothing ever gets done. They are good at making empty promises.”
She said life in the temporal structures had become a nightmare for residents. “This place is filthy, it smells and our children get sick. The toilets are blocked and constantly being damaged because there are many people using them. Sometimes we do not have water, children defecate anywhere and there are rodents roaming around.”
Resident Xolisile Vena said his family of eight had no privacy in the area. “The municipal officials must just come here and hand our houses over to us instead of making empty promises because we do not want to fight with anyone, we want this to be resolved peacefully with the people who have taken our houses.”
He said, “We do not want this to end ugly, we are also not scared to forcefully get our houses back but the municipality should play their role. We are suffering here; people need to be in their houses before things run out of control.”
BCM spokesperson Samlelo Ngwenya said the municipality had obtained a court order to evict the illegal house invaders and were currently having a social facilitation process led by political leadership to engage all the stakeholders affected. “These matters are being handled concurrently. At this stage, the municipality reserves the right not to publicly divulge its plans, except to assure society that, we are mindful of the cries of our people and we are handling this matter with delicacy, and within the confines of the law and when appropriate, we are going to take action.” Meanwhile, the eviction case of the families who have illegally occupied the houses will resume on October 30 in the East London High Court...