Renewed unrest erupts in Ga-Rena

Thembi Nkadimeng, Polokwane Executive Mayor addressed a mass meeting last Friday to establish the cause of the unrest at Ga-Rena Rental Village and subsequently met with the Ga-Rena Tenants’ Committee and the Polokwane Housing Association (PHA) to address issues that included electricity cut-offs, rental arrears and the issue of rent with an option to buy.
Unrest at Ga-Rena Rental Village reportedly started last Wednesday with stones allegedly being hurled at passing vehicles and the road in front of the development blockaded with burning objects. Early on Thursday evening a group of residents allegedly set a shack on the premises on fire and barricaded the road with concrete blocks and burning rubbish. It called for deployment of Police, members of the Community Policing Forum in the area, emergency workers and officials of Polokwane Municipality.
The simmering turmoil escalated and on Friday morning a group of residents barricaded access gates to the premises by setting fire to tyres and building material as well as mobile containers on the property in apparent discontent over a longstanding rental battle.
Photos of kids leaving for school against the backdrop of renewed discord at Ga-Rena Rental Village tell the story of an extended row that erupted towards the end of the last year when Police had to contain a mass of angry residents after a night of strife.
The violent expression of emotions was seemingly related to discontent with the fact that concerns raised with Nkadimeng and Premier Stan Mathabatha in the past had not been addressed as yet.
Ngwako Molewa, Company Secretary of the PHA, who is the administrator of the Ga-Rena Rental Village, said that the strike at Ga-Rena was triggered by the switching off of electricity to 168 tenants who were failing to honour their monthly rental obligations and arrangements to pay. “This led to the Executive Mayor of Polokwane addressing a mass meeting last Friday to establish the cause of the unrest and pave the way forward. Subsequent to the visit by the Executive Mayor a meeting between the Ga-Rena Tenants Committee, Polokwane Housing Association and the Executive Mayor was again held this past Monday and several issues were dealt with including, electricity cut -off, rental arrears and the issue of rent with an option to buy,” Molewa informed.
Molewa confirmed that among other things, it was agreed at the meeting that electricity will be reconnected and that tenants are to approach the municipality with their statements for reconciliation. “There will be a rebate in respect to those accounts which will be allocated based on a set of criteria and tenants are to still honour their rental obligations. In respect of the issue of rent with option to buy, it was agreed that there are legislative and procedural processes that needs to be followed in this regard,” Molewa said and added that the Ga-Rena Tenants’ Committee will need to consult with the tenants to establish to whether there is interest so that the proper processes are followed particularly with the option to buy.
It was further agreed that the PHA and the Ga-Rena Tenants’ Committee will start working together to ensure that in future issues of unrest are avoided and to also ensure that there are clear communication lines between the landlord and its tenants.

Story: EDITORIAL TEAM

Featured photo: A young learner in school uniform is being led past the burning entrance at Ga-Rena Rental Village in Ladanna last Friday morning.