KwaDukuza municipality bulldozes illegal Etete houses

A number of Etete residents were left homeless on Tuesday after their houses were demolished by the KwaDukuza municipality (KDM).

KDM maintains the residents were given advanced warning, and their noncompliance was holding up a RDP housing development..

Some of the homeowners were victims of unscrupulous sellers who sold land that had already been expropriated and earmarked for development by the municipality.

According to resident Trevor Rankisoon, about 200 families were affected.

“There are people who built their houses before 2004, before the so-called land expropriation. But there are also those who bought land and later discovered the land was already expropriated when the sale took place.

“The municipality must deal with the original landowner, not the innocent victims, some of whom spent their lifesavings building their homes,” said Rankisoon.

When the Courier arrived in Etete on Tuesday, residents stood helplessly, watching their homes being demolished.

One woman, who left work when she heard her home was being bulldozed, said she had three children and did not know where she would go to now.

“I bought this land and when I was halfway with the construction of my house, I was told to stop. I did, the building material is still here. I knew there was an issue with this land, but for them (KDM) to do this leaves me very disappointed,” she said.

Another resident, Sbongiseni Khuzwayo, who was busy removing the roof of his two-room house, said he had saved for 2 years to buy the land.

“I work as a security guard. I bought this plot for R10 000 last year, and all together I have spent about R80 000 building this house. It is a huge loss for me.”

The issue came to a head on Thursday, February 18 when the municipality prepared to lay water and sewerage pipes for Etete’s RDP housing project, but was held up by buildings and fences erected on land not intended for this purpose.

A meeting was held on Sunday, February 20 where residents were given seven days to vacate and demolish their buildings.

Municipal spokesperson Sipho Mkhize said they had been engaging with the illegal occupiers for some time.

“At these meetings we have encouraged people to desist from such illegal activities and for them to dismantle those structures.”

He said the residents were aware the land had been expropriated.

“Meetings have been held on several occasions to address the issue, and it appears there was a tendency to ignore the municipality’s position on this matter and to force the municipality to give in.

This would mean the municipality would not be able to link beneficiaries of the RDP project to water and sewerage services, and the builders of the illegal structures see nothing wrong with that,” said Mkhize.

He said they will continue to demolished the illegal homes and structures.

Those who were sold the land after it was expropriated must open cases against the sellers and claim back their money.

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