Three months after an anti-illegal immigration group allegedly evicted Lucky Moima and his mother from their RDP home on Aldo Magano Street in Alexandra’s Extension 9, the family remains displaced despite repeated efforts by community members to intervene.

Read more: RDP housing tensions rise

The evictions, which affected two other families on the same street, were based on claims that the residents were undocumented immigrants occupying government-subsidised houses. This prompted ActionSA leaders, including Gauteng Provincial Legislature Caucus Leader Funzi Ngobeni, to visit the area to hear residents’ concerns.

The party’s meeting was shortly joined by the members of the anti-illegal immigration group, who, after allegedly evicting Moima’s family in June, seized their property and leased it. The group sought to justify their actions.

@caxtonjoburgnorth ActionSA Gauteng Provincial Legislature Caucus Leader Funzi Ngobeni engages with a member of an anti-illegal immigration group in Alexandra. This comes after the group allegedly evicted multiple South African citizens in Extension 9 in June and ActionSA Gauteng Provincial Legislature Caucus Leader Funzi Ngobeni says the purpose of their visit to Alexandra was to get first-hand information about the evictions happening in the area. #ActionSA #alexandra ♬ original sound Caxton Joburg North

While the group initially claimed Moima’s mother was an illegal immigrant from Lesotho, they now acknowledged she holds a valid South African ID. However, they said they are still occupying the house because Moima’s mother failed to produce a title deed proving she owns it. The group further alleged that she has another RDP house in the Free State.

Moima confirmed that his mother owns an RDP house in the Free State and said the Alexandra property was transferred to her as beneficiary after his father’s death. But he refrained from commenting further on the issue, noting that it will be clarified when his mother comes back from the Free State.

According to ActionSA’s Ward 105 chairperson Tumelo Shai, the recent evictions add to the group’s series of forceful removals affecting multiple communities in Alexandra. He said the group had moved through Amarasta, Ext 7, River Park, and now Ext 9, claiming to remove illegal immigrants. He clarified that the affected residents are South Africans and that ActionSA also opposes illegal immigration. This was also echoed by Ngobeni.

“We have an issue in South Africa where a lot of our RDP houses have been taken over by illegal foreigners. We put a motion forward to the city, saying the city needs to audit all the RDP houses that were awarded and confirm that all of them are still owned by South Africans.” Ngobeni shared.

The meeting builds on Shai’s efforts to help residents reclaim their homes. Despite months of displacement, Moima remains hopeful that they will get their home back. “There are no illegal immigrants in this house. If there were, we wouldn’t be fighting to get it back.”

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