Following the invasion of housing units in Mamelodi, the City of Tshwane emerged victorious when the High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria) granted the municipality an eviction order, last Thursday 16 January 2020, against the illegal occupants.
On December 7 2019, over a hundred illegal occupants invaded 5 of the apartment blocks, which are part of a housing development project in Mamelodi Extension 5. The invaders gained access into the units by breaking doors and locks.
The project is situated on Erf 79/29355 Mamelodi Extension 5 and is owned by the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. The development consist of 252 units spread over 14 blocks, with each block containing 18 two-bedroom-units with a floor area of 40m2. The units are fully subsidised (previously known as RDP). The contractor appointed to develop these units is Vharanani Properties. The contractor was appointed in December 2017 at an amount of R56 622 573.00.
“The City had to act fast and proceeded to approach the court on an urgent basis to evict the invaders. A court application for an eviction order was instituted and served, but the illegal invaders opposed the application”, said the Member of the Mayoral Committee responsible for Human Settlements, Cllr Sello Maimane.
He said the project is currently at 97% towards completion. The progress percentage excludes the additional items that are still required such as, perimeter fencing, guardhouse/bin area, walkways, security and landscape lighting. To date, eleven blocks have been completed and only need minor plumbing works to be fully complete. The remaining 3 blocks require minor finishes.
The City had already started with the process of allocations prior to the invasions. To date qualifying and approved beneficiaries have been provisionally allocated. Allocating beneficiaries provisionally means that beneficiaries are assigned units by giving them unit numbers and allowing them to open a municipal services account with the City.
The Councillor said the matter was argued in court on 16 January 2020 and the court granted the City an eviction order against the invaders. The City will not tolerate invasions and will act decisively including approaching courts for an eviction.
“It is untrue that the City had promised the illegal occupants these housing units. The units belong to qualifying beneficiaries that have been on the National housing needs register or database and are local citizens. We urge the occupants to abide by the court decision and vacate the units before the 27 January this year so that the contractor can finalise the outstanding work and the rightful beneficiaries can take occupation”, concluded Cllr Maimane.
He said the City will also be opening a case of malicious damage to property with an intension to recoup the cost from those held accountable for the vandalism.
