The KZN Human Settlement Department, which last year committed itself to paying thousands of rands in rental for the Pietermaritzburg flats illegally occupied by uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) war vets, could end up forking out millions of rands.

Owned by Capital City Housing (CCH), a non-profit company which provides affordable accommodation for low-income groups working within the city, the Aloe Ridge flats were invaded by the war vets in 2018.

After the CCH obtained an eviction order against the war vets, the department was forced to enter into an agreement with the CCH committing itself to pay the company rent for the flats occupied by the war wets.

The agreement was with the understanding that the department would pay the rent until December, the month by which it had projected it would have completed the building of alternative accommodation for the war vets.

However, the department now finds itself in a predicament after the war vets housing projects in the city have been marred by delays, putting it in a situation where it has to continue paying CCH rent for an indefinite period.

CCH, which said the agreement was part of the court order it had obtained against the war vets, made it clear that it was expecting the department to continue paying rent for as long as the war vets continued to occupy the company’s flats.

Previous reports of Aloe Ridge invasion

The Witness has reported extensively on the MK war veterans’ invasion of about 300 flats at the Aloe Ridge housing development in Westgate in 2018.

At the time, the war vets claimed that they were entitled to the flats as part of the funds which CCH used to develop the rental housing complex were from the government which subsidised the Aloe Ridge housing complex as part of its programme to provide affordable housing to low-income groups living in the city.

CCH, which since 2018 until May this year has been incurring massive losses as a result of the illegal occupation, said it would be plunged into a financial crisis should the department discontinue the payments while the war vets are still on site.

“The rental is assisting in covering the current costs of the units occupied by the war vets.”

On the other hand, the war vets made it clear that as long as there was no alternative housing they would continue living in the invaded properties.

“Whether the government continues to pay the rent or not, the bottom line is still that the soldiers will only vacate Aloe Ridge if the government fulfills its promise to build houses for them,” uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans’ Association (MKMVA) regional leader Babsy Sithole said.

MK Vets arrested

Last year, some of the war vets living in the invaded flats were arrested after they travelled to Pretoria for a meeting with cabinet ministers, including Defence Minister Thandi Modise.

The meeting, which was supposed to focus on the war vets’ grievances, including government’s failure to provide them with housing, turned chaotic resulting in Modise and the other ministers who were present at the meeting opening kidnapping charges against the war vets.

However, the charges against the war vets were subsequently withdrawn.

Sithole said there would be ‘war’ should there be attempts to remove the war vets from the Aloe Ridge flats.

“We will not accept a situation where the soldiers are made to pay for government’s failures. They should not provoke us.”

Msunduzi Mayor Mzi Thebolla, whose municipality had agreed to provide land for the war vets housing projects, conceded that things have not gone according to plan.

“I’m aware of some of the war vets housing projects within Msunduzi running smoothly, with some houses having been completed as we speak. However, in some of the projects, things were held up due to factors beyond the municipality’s control.”

In some instances, neighbouring communities threatened legal action should the war vets’ houses be built in their neighbourhood.

In Pietermaritzburg’s Bakersville area, the provincial Human Settlement Department was forced to put a war vets housing project on ice after it has been found that a proper environmental impact assessment had not been conducted.

The provincial department was by late yesterday afternoon yet to respond to written questions sent by The Witness.