How Phumla Mqashi mushroomed into a fully-fledged informal settlement

29 December 2022 - 08:28
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The informal settlement allowed Joseph Moloi from Free State an opportunity to stay with his family.
The informal settlement allowed Joseph Moloi from Free State an opportunity to stay with his family.
Image: Phathu Luvhengo/TimesLIVE

Shack dweller Nzimeni Marunga seized the opportunity to have his own home when the Phumla Mqashi informal settlement sprang up in Lenasia South in 2016.

The settlement had only a few residents when Marunga, 53, moved in. Today, it houses hundreds of families.  

Marunga said he decided to settle there after learning that others had occupied the land.

“We found out that this place was an open ground and we decided to occupy it and build our own homes,” said the unemployed father of two from Limpopo.

He erected a shack and moved in with his wife.

Word spread and they were soon joined by others who also erected shacks.   

At the time, it was rumoured the area was earmarked for development but as there was none, people started occupying the land and erecting shacks. 

Residents contributed money to install pipes to illegally access water from Vlakfontein Ext 3.

“When we moved here, this place was earmarked for residential development, but residents from Vlakfontein took the initiative to occupy the land because of the crime that was happening here. It was also taking forever for this place to be developed and people were dying [because of crime incidents],” he said.

Over the last six years, the settlement has grown into a fully-fledged informal settlement with more than 10,000 plots. While some live in shacks,  others have built brick and mortar houses.

The area has roads, churches and a small piece of ground has been left open as a play ground. 

A community leader from the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), Mthandeni Mollo, said residents occupied the land in July 2016.  

In September 2017, Red Ants attempted to evict people but residents wouldn't move.

“We took charge because people were not getting the basic services. People have been staying here for six years. There is nothing going on in this ward. Politicians only come here during the voting period and subsequently disappear,” he said.

He said the open land was a section of plots in Unaville which people occupied and then developed gravel roads.

Some of the residents built proper houses in the informal settlements.
Some of the residents built proper houses in the informal settlements.
Image: Phathu Luvhengo/TimesLIVE

“We made them [the access roads] ourselves. We decided as leadership when we were allocating stands to leave spaces for access roads to meet the government halfway,” he said.

He said residents have formalised the area to provide access for taxis.

“This settlement is too big. When I am saying we have 10,000 homes I am not lying. We are talking about families. Some have even extended their shacks to accommodate their families and these people need electricity and access to water.”

Mollo said when they moved to the area, the nearby shopping centre along the Golden Highway was already there. It had since been upgraded to include banks and other shops following the development of the area.

He said many people flocked to the area during the Covid-19 lockdown — probably due to the many job losses at the time and many people no longer being able to pay rent.

“That is why it grew so big. People wanted a place to stay. People from Vlakfontein, Ennerdale, Finetown, Lenasia South and other surrounding areas have dominated this settlement,” he said.

Joseph Moloi, 38, from the Free State, used to rent a back room in Freedom Park. When he heard about Phumla Mqashi he seized the opportunity to build his own home so he could have his family with him

When he moved into the settlement in 2018, he erected a five-room shack to accommodate his children who were staying in the Free State.

Moloi, an employee at a packaging firm, said his company didn't usually close during the festive season which had meant he was unable to be with his family. But that has changed since he moved to the settlement. 

“I am a taxpayer. I work and earn income but I do not qualify for a bond house and couldn’t stay with my children and my wife in a back room.”

Local ward councillor Puseletso Nzimande said the land was initially planned for township development by the City of Johannesburg but in 2016 someone allegedly leaked information to the public.

This prompted the illegal invasion of the land. “Before 2016, there was a plan of integrated development whereby they were going to build bond houses,” she said.

One of the Sanco leaders in Phumla Mqashi informal settlement, Mthandeni Mollo, believes the government is failing residents.
One of the Sanco leaders in Phumla Mqashi informal settlement, Mthandeni Mollo, believes the government is failing residents.
Image: Phathu Luvhengo/TimesLIVE

Nzimande, a resident who owns a house in ward 120 near the settlement, said she and other residents were worried their houses will lose value.

She said before she became a councillor, residents from neighbouring townships complained about the implications of land invasions.

“Phumla Mqashi was one of the first informal settlements that were started in 2016. Now we are sitting with a scenario where these people want service delivery and proper town planning was not done.”

She added if the area was planned properly, it might have been better for residents but “now they are stuck with a township that wasn't properly developed”.

“Even the arrangement of the shacks, you can even see that it was only criminality that was happening in that area [at the time of land invasion].”

Nzimande said they needed to know the exact number and particulars of people staying there. She said she had requested the City of Johannesburg human settlements department to intervene.

TimesLIVE asked the department what its plans were for the area but it is yet to respond. 

TimesLIVE

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