The day the South African government comes for your house, pillows, bed sheets, sofas and IDs will fly out of the window, because finding alternative accommodation before undertaking evictions is not something they generally do.
This harsh reality was revealed on Tuesday for the people of Pharoe Park, Ekurhuleni, when they were forcibly removed from a municipal-owned property due to nonpayment of rent, rates and taxes.
The chaotic scenes in that area were also a reminder that rights go hand in hand with responsibilities. One’s right to have housing has to be met by settling the bill if that is the contractual arrangement. However, the people of Pharoe Park did not honour this common understanding, hence the evictions, which in turn, violated some of their rights. It is an uncomfortable truth to confront, given that the potential impact this will have on the residents is that few things in life are free.
To make matters worse, a home affairs building was burnt down during the protest action that ensued as a result of the evictions.
The torching of the government building is more than an act of desperation and anger; it is self-sabotage. Those who did it not only destroyed a public service building used by themselves and thousands of others, but also undermined any moral high ground they might have claimed in their fight against eviction. Families will be displaced and stranded, which is not to be taken lightly given that their plight may worsen as a result.
The Germiston fire is a stark reminder: when protest crosses into criminality, it ceases to be a tool of change and becomes a weapon of self-harm
Evictions are not just about losing a roof; it is about being cast into the margins of a city that already struggles with homelessness and deep inequality. But the brutal truth is this: owing R200m in unpaid rent, rates and taxes over two decades has crippled the Ekurhuleni Housing Company’s ability to sustain its operations. Housing, like any service, depends on revenue, and without it, the system collapses for everyone.
The city’s claim that evictions are a last resort after years of engagement may be cold comfort to the affected tenants, but it cannot be ignored. Those who have not paid for decades, in some cases wilfully, have effectively blocked opportunities for others in need who are willing and able to pay.
Still, the state is not blameless. South Africa’s housing crisis is decades in the making, worsened by unemployment, poor policy implementation and a chronic shortage of affordable units. Evictions without a viable resettlement plan risk pushing the poor into even worse conditions. That is a political failure as much as it is a personal one.
What cannot be justified is the destruction of public infrastructure. Burning a department of home affairs office does not stop evictions; it only robs the community of essential services and diverts resources from the very social challenges protesters claim to be highlighting. It signals not resistance, but recklessness.
The Germiston fire is a stark reminder: when protest crosses into criminality, it ceases to be a tool of change and becomes a weapon of self-harm. The urgency now is for Ekurhuleni to find a legally sound, socially just resolution to the Pharoe Park crisis, and for residents to confront the uncomfortable truth that sustainable housing comes with both rights and responsibilities.
If both sides continue on their current paths, evictions without empathy on one side, destruction without discipline on the other, the only thing left to burn will be the fragile trust holding the city together.
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