Residents of Skierlik Power line Extension 2 evicted from their homes
Residents of Skierlik Power line Extension 2 in the far East of Tshwane along the K54 highway are aggrieved after being evicted from their shacks on Thursday morning by the infamous Red Ants company.
Red Ants company specialises in forced removals, and it pounced on the hapless residents on Thursday and removed their roofs before taking away their valuable belongings.
Seven families were affected by the eviction which has now left them homeless.
At the moment MK Party member Mageshi Nkosi has offered the evicted residents temporary shelter in his own yard.
One of the evicted residents Richard Sefoka told Tshwane Talks that he has been living in the area for almost eight years and that the eviction took him by surprise as he didn’t expect it at all.
“The Red Ants came to my shack at around 10 or 11 am on Thursday and I was asleep at the time, and after hearing a loud knock on the door I came out of the shack and the Red Ants guys started using hammers to dismantle the roof of my shack before taking my furniture and other belongings away,” explained Sefoka.
“The Red Ants told us that we are not supposed to live in the area,” he said.
Sefako said they were supposed to be relocated to Pienaarspoort Extension 15 like just like the people who were living next to them at the informal settlement, but now they are surprised that instead of being relocated they were served with notices to vacate the Extension 2 Powerlines area in Skierlik.
“Half of the community members that we were living with here have been relocated by the City of Tshwane to Pienaarspoort Extension 15, but instead of us being relocated as well, we were served with notices on Monday last week to get out of the area,” lamented Sefako.
“The Red Ants stopped us from taking videos of the eviction incident, and this makes us feel angry because we wanted to take videos of the incident as proof that the eviction was lawful,” he said.
“They stopped us from taking videos because as they evicted us they stole our belongings,” complained Sefako.
“We are now left with nothing, our shacks have been taken away and everything we had had been taken away by the Red Ants,” said Sefako.
Residents of Skierlik Power line Extension 2 evicted from their homes
“I was given two relocation numbers by the City of Tshwane, which are CL744 and R49 to show that I was among the group of people who had to be relocated to Pienaarspoort Extension 15,” he said.
“I am disappointed that the City of Tshwane can make promises to people then turn around and take away that which it has promised to give to the people,” said Sefako.
He said his sound system, burglar doors, clothes, wallet as well as his children’s belongings have been stolen by the Red Ants.
He said the Red Ants haven’t told them as to where they should go if they wanted to reclaim their items and that when he asked as to where his goods were being taken to, the Red Ants threatened to assault him,” said Sefako.
“Some people own large hectares of land but the City of Tshwane has removed us from a small piece of land which is not worth anything,” he said.
Another resident who was evicted from her shack is Cowry Madiwane, who told Tshwane Talks that she was supposed to be relocated to Pienaarspoort Extension 15 just like other residents who have been living next to them.
“I have been living here since January 2017 and we understand that we had to be relocated from the K54 highway because it had to be rehabilitated, but instead of being replicated we have been evicted and don’t have a place to stay,” she said as she in the process revealed that her wallet was stolen and some her goods were damaged while others were stolen by the Red Ants.
She said the Red Ants were accompanied by the Tshwane Metro Police.
“I don’t know where I will sleep, maybe I will go to families, but I want to say our Mayor is not looking after us,” said Madiwane.
Puleng Peter Magatlhe told Tshwane Talks that he couldn’t save anything when his shack was demolished by the Red Ants.
“I don’t have food, clothes, shoes and money because everything has been taken away by the Red Ants,” he said.
“We are asking the Mayor to bring back our shacks so that we can live decent lives like other people, because at the moment we are living like hobos and our children are looking up to us to provide them with the necessities of life,” enthused Magatlhe.
MK Party member Mishack Nkosi said he was saddened by the way parents and children were evicted from their shacks before they were demolished.
He told Tshwane Talks that he used to live together with the evicted residents along the K54 highway in Skierlik but that he has now fortunately been relocated.
“We want to get rid of the corruption that is taking place here regarding the eviction because how can the Mayor promise to relocate people then turn around and evict them?” he asked.
“Why out of 50 shacks in the area has the Municipality decided to evict only seven families?” he asked as he in the process opined that if the seven evicted families are regarded as living in the area illegally, then so are the other families that are in the area.
He said as MK Party they will intervene and make sure that the evicted families have a place to sleep.
“The 2026 local government elections are around the corner and I am saying the Government of National Unity has worsened our living conditions and our Councillor Bekker is of no use to us at all,” lamented Nkosi.
Meanwhile, today the TMPD went to the Skierlik Power line Extension 2 in the far East of Tshwane along the K54 highway and served the remaining residents with eviction letter.