DE DEUR.- After being told that they now had a permanent home, the elderly were over the moon but their excitement was short-lived when the Red Ants swamped into the Tshepong area near De Deur and destroyed their newly built shacks recently.

Making matters worse, they were told this by their very own ANC Ward Councillor, who was later shot with a rubber bullet after he allegedly tried to stop the Red Ants from removing the new stand owners from their newly acquired land.

Ward Councillor Sipho Radebe was rushed to Levai Mbatha Community Clinic in Evaton following the shooting on 9 January.

He was later released after receiving treatment for his injuries. An elderly women said her illegal shack was her last chance to establish a home she could leave to her descendants when she died, since hse has had none all her life.

Manna Moloi (60) said she had been celebrating having her own home. Each new owner is said to have paid a required R100 to Radebe, who had promised them ‘a home’.

“He told people the R100 was for payment for a hired TLB to demarcate the stands,” residents said.
Illegal squatters are said to have poured into the area from as far as Sebokeng, Sharpeville, Orange Farms and Lakeside to name but a few, sadly the Red Ants stopped their short-lived happiness