Tempers flared when the City of Cape Town’s law enforcement officers demolished shacks which had been illegally erected on a piece of unoccupied land in 33 Section in Harare, Khayelitsha on Thursday October 4.
When Vukani arrived in the area just a few hours after law enforcement had left, the residents were still fuming while others had been collecting their scattered and damaged belongings.
The residents said they started occupying the land at the beginning of the month and had informed street committees and leadership.
What fuelled their anger, they said, was that some shacks were spared, while the “Red Ants” pointed out the shacks that they wanted demolished.
Red Ants is a reference to the security and eviction services staff who are tasked with demolishing shacks.
Residents accused one of the community leaders or street committees of being behind the move to demolish their shacks.
Resident Zama Mhlaloka, said they had begged authorities not to demolish their shacks but to rather allow residents to dismantle them themselves.
This request, however, was ignored.
Mr Mhlaloka said in some cases there had been people with children inside the shacks. He added that people built shacks in vacant land because they were desperate for houses while others were unable to afford high rental costs.
But he pointed out that even though their homes had been destroyed they were not going to back down. “Is it okay that these people destroy our shacks and take our material on top of that? Are we committing crime when we just take a space to erect a place to live?
“We won’t stop building homes yet because we were not committing crime and we have not wronged anyone. We are going to fight until the end for this place We are also concerned and worried that some shacks were not demolished only certain ones,” he said.
Another resident, Thandiswa Zweni, said she had been inside her shack sorting out her belongings when she heard a big bang and saw her shack falling.
She argued that those demolishing the shacks hadn’t even checked whether there were people inside. She said that she was not working and she had been squatting with relatives for years and only wanted a place to call it her own. Mayoral committee member for area east, Anda Ntsodo, said the City was against the illegal occupation of vacant land, which the City had plans to develop. He urged the community to refrain from this act of taking land illegal and said it hinders the city’s development plans.