Free land for all in Olievenhoutbosch, says EFF councillor

A group of people hope their lives will change for the better after they heeded a call, allegedly by the EFF, to occupy open land in Olievenhoutbosch, Tshwane. 

Johanna Mathebula, 41, complained that to rent a back room in Olievenhoutbosch costs R1,500, which she struggles to pay each month.

The unemployed mother of five is among scores of residents in the area who occupied the land and have been erecting shacks since Friday.

.

Mathebula said she relied on her children's government grants for survival. She lives in a one-room shack with her children.

“They have cut my R350 [grant]. It is very difficult. We are just hoping that if we are allowed to stay on this site, at least we will have a place to call home,” she said.

Getting her own place to live meant she will not have to worry about paying monthly rent.

“Imagine staying in a one-room shack with more than five kids; you don't work and from that children's Sassa [SA Social Security Agency grant] you have to pay rent.”

Mathebula complained that unemployment is rife in the area and when she stocks fruits and vegetables to sell people don't buy because most are unemployed.

“I used to work, but since Covid-19 started I haven't been working. I applied for a RDP house subsidy in 2007 and it was approved and I was told that my house is occupied.”

She has inquired at the municipality several times and was told to wait.

“I see it is better for me to come here and find a space to stay because going to the municipality is not helping me and I don't have money to rent.”

Clementine Mosia, 52, said she applied for a house subsidy in 2012 but has received no response from the authorities.

She alleges that the house she applied for was occupied by other people.

Mosia rented a one-room shack in the area and said it was overcrowded as she lives with her children and grandchildren.

“We are six in one shack and I pay R1,500. I don't get R350 from the government.”

She sells fruit on the streets, but business is slow and she struggles to make enough profit.

“Life is very difficult when you are not working. As soon as I get the material to erect the shack I am coming to build my home here.

“I have to make sure that children are eating and pay the rent every month. It is difficult, sometimes I get smaller jobs that last for two days and don't generate enough money,” she said.

Tshepo Ditsele, 36, said he has been struggling to pay his rent since he lost his job in January this year.

If he manages to get the material he will build his shack and stop worrying about rent.

EFF councillor in the city of Tshwane Godwin Ratikwane posted on Twitter on Saturday that the EFF was handing out land for free and called on residents to go to the area to get land.

“Our people are unemployed and with a high rate of unemployment they cannot afford to rent the back rooms; there is no privacy where they rent.

“There are no resources or money to pay the rent and as a result we have a situation where people are misplaced and displaced everywhere. As a result we need to implement the cardinal pillar which is expropriation of land without compensation.”

He said there were 110 hectares of land that “do not have an owner” and people have taken a decision to occupy it.

“As the EFF we support them 100%, because we understand their plight as people. The land is not open for people in Olievenhoutbosch only; it is open for the people of Diepsloot, people of Midrand, Soweto, anywhere where someone feels they are homeless.”

The criteria to receive land is simple: residents just need to take their building material to the site and they will be given a space.

“We started occupation on Friday, around 12pm, and we have been getting harassed by metro police from both Johannesburg and Tshwane and public order policing from the province, but we are still holding our ground.”

As the organisation, they were “solving the problem that the government couldn't solve in the past 27 years”.

“But we are fighting to ensure that all of our people have space. We had a protest this morning [Monday and] it has ended. Our people are going back to their stands to continue occupying the land and to fix their shacks and to ensure that where they stay, it is habitable for human beings.”

Ratikwane said they will possibly return to the streets again on Wednesday to protest against police harassing people occupying the land.

“They claim they have a case number which they have also not produced to us. What they need to be doing is to come with the court order. The land is unfenced, the land has not been used since it has existed. The time we started occupying it, all of a sudden everybody claims the land and no-one wants to produce the papers to say this is my land.”

Tshwane community safety MMC Grandi Theunissen condemned “political opportunism” and attempts to drive unrest in Olievenhoutbosch through illegal land grabs.

“In my capacity as MMC for community safety, I condemn in the strongest terms the reckless, illegal and dangerous politicking by the EFF in the Olievenhoutbosch area where the party is driving illegal protest action and attempted land grabs,” he said.

At the weekend, Tshwane and Johannesburg metro police, SAPS and private security companies responded to various calls to halt illegal land grabs in the area.

“In an obvious attempt to further their own political agenda, earlier this morning [Monday] the EFF once again abused the community’s frustrations by organising a volatile protest action in Olievenhoutbosch by blockading roads with burning tires,” Theunissen said.

The city condemned the action and abuse of vulnerable communities for political gain.

He called on the community to constructively engage the city on service delivery matters.

“In that way, a structured approach can be followed to ensure that the city can provide the necessary services to these communities.

“Trusting opportunistic political parties who make empty promises will only lead to further anger, frustration and disappointment,” he said.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.