ALMOST 200 people staged a protest at the Durban Magistrate’s Court opposing an application brought before the court to remove them from transit camps.

The angry Wentworth residents gathered in court today (January 31). They demanded that the court dismiss an application brought by the Human Settlements Department which is seeking permission to remove the people who have illegally occupied transit camps in Austerville.

Also read: eThekwini approves social housing project for Wentworth

Carrying placards with messages of dissatisfaction, the residents claim that their eviction notice is unfair and unjustified.

One of the organisers for the march, Chief Mervin Damos, said the transit camp houses had remained vacant for over eight months – prompting residents who had been waiting to get houses to occupy these temporary structures without permits from officials. He said when the residents moved into these temporary houses, the infrastructure had already been vandalised by vagrants who first occupied the transit camp.

Also read: Furore over new housing project in Wentworth

He said over 30 families are currently occupying these temporary structures as their flats that were being renovated are overcrowded.

“For the past 40 years the people of Wentworth have been neglected. Why there has not been any housing project that benefits the people of Wentworth? We are a sidelined community and we demand that the authorities stop mistreating the people of Wentworth,” said Damos.

One resident, Kelsey Ogle, said for the past 18 months these units have been empty and vandalised by pharas (vagrants). I moved in there when my child was nine-months-old. Now my child is two years. I have nowhere to go,” said Ogle.

The R120 million project was set aside for the refurbishment of housing units

In 2010, the provincial government committed more than R120 million to refurbish 1 148 housing units. However, the residents claim that the shoddy work by the contractors and corruption brought the project down to its knees.

The Austerville Project Steering Committee was formed by the government in 2010.

The submissions to the application brought by the department will continue once the court receives a report from eThekwini Municipality about the possibility of providing residents with alternative accommodation.

However, the State argued that some of the tenants who occupied the transit camp, own properties in nearby communities.

In response to that, a lawyer representing residents told the court that should eThekwini Municipality fail to provide them with an alternative, more than 30 families including children will be stranded without shelter over their heads.

For more Southlands Sun news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok.

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and get news delivered straight to your inbox

Do you have more information pertaining to this story? Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.