Inhabitants of Vannin Court, one of an estimated 188 hijacked buildings in Johannesburg’s inner city, say they have nowhere to go should they be evicted.
Johannesburg transport MMC Kenny Kunene and public safety MMC Mgcini Tshwaku on Tuesday inspected the derelict Hillbrow building with law enforcement officers.
Both vowed to return “in two or three days” to close the building down and evict the residents.
On the ground floor the lift shaft, with no doors, is filled to the brim with rubbish thrown into it from the floors above.
A rat the size of a small dog scurries away near an abandoned staircase in the corner of the yard, which, Kunene says, is used as an escape route for criminals who attack people in the street. The staircase leads out to another street.
Several residents stand on higher floors watching the delegation walk through the building.
In a dirty passageway reeking of decay, a 34-year-old resident told TimesLIVE Premium she had been living in Vannin Court “for more than 10 years”.
“I have two small children and no husband to bring home the bread. I do what I can to make money to feed them, but work is scarce,” said the woman, who did not want to be named.
She lives in one room, divided by sheets hung from wire strung from wall to wall, with seven other families.
“I can pay rent, but I cannot afford what people are asking. At the moment I can pay between R1,300 and R1,500 per month for me and my children. But where can we find a place that will be satisfied with that amount?”
She says most families living in rooms housing between eight and 10 families pay rent of “about R200 per family per month”.
Another resident, who wanted to be named only as Raymond, said: “There is no place we can go. If the government want us to leave here, they must bring a plan.
“I have been staying in this building for almost 10 years. To survive I do security odd jobs when I can find them, but it is not enough to pay rent every month in a real building,” Raymond, 35, who hails from KwaZulu-Natal, said.
If Vannin Court is closed down, he has no other option. “I will just have to move to another building until I am kicked out there also.”
A 20-something-year old male resident angrily chased TimesLIVE Premium away.
“You come here with cameras, and we will be taken out of our homes by police. Then we have no place to stay. Voetsek,” the angry man said.
A 50-year-old woman told TimesLIVE Premium they are constantly victims of crime.
“Criminals hit us every week and the police are too scared to come in and help.”
Outside her door a high-ranking uniformed officer told TimesLIVE Premium SAPS are outnumbered when it comes to hijacked buildings.
“We cannot just send one van. We have to send all of them. Then our city away from these buildings is at the mercy of other criminals.”
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