BARBERTON – The hundreds of people who flocked to Kosovo Villar and are illegally occupying municipal land, turning it into a slum area, have been dealt a serious blow. It is alleged that their names have been removed from the council’s housing waiting list.
To add to that, their area has several unoccupied shacks which are allegedly used by criminals. Victims are bus commuters who alight and board when it’s dark and quiet. One victim who was robbed,
Ms Thembeni Vilakazi, a domestic worker in Nelspruit said, “I was on my way to work. I was supposed to be at the bus stop at 05:00. While I was on my way there, two guys approached and one of them greeted me. Suddenly one of them grabbed my bag.
“When I tried to scream, they ran into one of the unfinished shacks. I ran to the main road and knew that once I was there, I would be safe because of the cars that constantly pass by. I was lucky they hadn’t pulled me into those structures and raped me.”
When Mpumalanga News visited the area, it discovered that these shacks were in fact unfinished and unoccupied. Speaking to this reporter, Mr Vusi “Snopo” Gwebu, a member of Umjindi Community Forum who represented residents of the settlement, said, “There are people who live in those structures. They make sure they clean their yards, but since the municipality intimidated the residents of Kosovo Villar, they left, and will soon return to this area as people need places to live in while our leaders fail to deliver housing.”
Last year the Umjindi Local Municipality obtained a court interdict from the Northern Gauteng Court to stop the establishment of the settlement, and sent the Red Ants and police to demolish the shacks, but it seemed as if it was a waste of time because some residents rebuilt their homes.
In 2013 this publication questioned the municipality on its future plans for Kosovo Villar. It confirmed receipt thereof, but didn’t respond.
Mpumalanga News tried to get hold of the spokesperson for the municipality,
Mr Samuel Jele, but its efforts proved fruitless.
