The only arrests at Bredell were for indecent exposure. On Thursday night the squatters were left at the mercy of the elements
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni, Bongani Majola and Khadija Magardie
The early morning mist hanging over Bredell, Kempton Park, on Thursday made visibility difficult. But when trucks arrived and disgorged a few hundred men, their red overalls stood out clearly.
The men were employees of Wozani Security who earned the nickname Rooi Gevaar (red danger) when they smashed squatter shacks in Alexandra township in March this year.
Until the 200 members of the Rooi Gevaar arrived in Bredell to enforce a Pretoria High Court ruling to remove illegal squatters there, the atmosphere was mournful and religious. The more than 1000 police officers monitoring the camp were largely ignored. The Rooi Gevaar brought crowbars and tension.
Thursday began with a march of about 500 people around the camp, mobilising the squatters to resist the evictions. During the march, women started stripping off their clothing in an attempt to demonstrate their anger at the forced removals. By mid-afternoon the women converged on the police and once again took all their clothes off. More than 20 were arrested for indecent exposure.
After the march there was a short prayer where the squatters asked for the mercy of the Lord and His protection from “this hell on earth”.
Although the police were spared the ire of the squatters, their political leader, Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete, was a target of anger and disdain.
One of the squatters held up a placard with a photograph of a luxury house they think is Tshwete’s. The placard had the words: “Steve: have you got a nice big bedroom? All we want is a piece of ground the size of your kitchen. How many cars sleep in your garage? We don’t want land that belongs to others, there is enough land in this country for everyone. Please tell us Steve, how long must we wait?”
After the prayer the women separated from the men. Many women were emotional, a few were crying. One said: “Lord, we ask you not to accept Tshwete into heaven when he dies. He must go to hell for what he is doing to us.”
The men were saying: “We are not moving, resist any attempt by the police to move us. We will be the ones to confront them and stop them from destroying the shacks.”
Pan Africanist Congress national executive committee member Mtutuseli Mama arrived and addressed the squatters: “The PAC is here to support the community. We are not here to participate in the protest. We will monitor the police to ensure that there are no casualties.”
Members of the Democratic Alliance arrived with trucks to assist the squatters in removing their possessions. “We appreciate the DA’s assistance, but we are concerned that the same people who condemned the community are now acting as a Messiah,” said Mama.
Motsoko Pheko, deputy president of the PAC, told the squatters: “The land in South Africa is big and can accommodate everybody. The government must give land to the people because there are children here and because they do not have any place to go and it is very cold now. The people are not asking for farms, all they want is a place to sleep. The PAC is not here to fight the police, but to ensure people are given the dignity and the respect they deserve.”
Around noon, the woman who claims she was the first resident of Bredell watched her shack being destroyed by the Rooi Gevaar. Johanna Madube said she had been living there for three weeks.
When the Rooi Gevaar arrived at her door, she ran away but watched from a few metres as they started dismantling her home. Crying loudly, holding her head, she began jumping up and down. “I’m not going anywhere, my husband is in prison and I don’t know where. Without my husband here I can’t move my goods. I don’t know where I am going to sleep tonight.”
The Rooi Gevaar’s tactics drew criticism from the police. Initially, they indiscriminately hacked and bashed at the rudimentary shacks, bringing roofs down on the possessions inside.
In a remarkable display of humanity a policeman, who would only identify himself as the “operation commander”, said to a Wozani employee: “The way you are destroying these shacks is not the way we agreed.” The Wozani man ignored him. Then the policeman warned him that if he didn’t stop destroying the contents of the shack, he would order the police to withdraw and leave the Wozani men to the mercy of squatters. The Wozani man gentled his actions, but as soon as the policeman turned his back, he not only began hacking at the shack with his crowbar, but started kicking it as well.
A Wozani foreman appealed to one of his workers: “Don’t destroy the stuff, treat it like it’s your own.”
Human Rights Commission (HRC) spokesperson Pumla Mthaba, who was observing the day’s events, said: “The HRC is concerned and is not happy about the way the Rooi Gevaar are destroying shacks, as if there is no tomorrow for these poor people. We believe they should be treated with dignity and respect.”
By 2pm the mood of the residents was starting to turn ugly. At a second meeting convened for the day, squatters began talking of death. They rejected an offer brought by the South African Council of Churches to house them in army tents on church land. “If we sleep at a church tonight, where do we go tomorrow?” one squatter asked. “You are not helping us at all.”
As the day drew to a close it became obvious that less than a quarter of the Bredell squatter camp was going to be dismantled. The Rooi Gevaar took a leisurely lunch break, in contrast with the fervour with which they destroyed the pitiful belongings of the desperately poor squatters.