More than 20 people were arrested for resisting evictions at Sehlalangenkani informal settlement in Musina early on Wednesday morning, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported.
About 1 000 households were being evicted from their corrugated-iron shacks after having occupied municipal land unlawfully since 2003. Police used rubber bullets to disperse angry residents who had gathered in the streets to protest against the evictions.
The municipality obtained a court order last year allowing the evictions. A committee representing the residents challenged it in the Pretoria High Court, but municipal spokesperson David Mukobi told the SABC that residents’ representatives had failed to honour the court date, prompting the municipality to continue with the evictions.
No alternative accommodation had been arranged for the residents.
The residents said that they had erected shacks on municipal land because the municipality had failed to provide houses for them. Some said they had been on the housing list since 1995.
Police spokesperson Captain Mashudu Malelo told the South African Press Association he had only heard about the evictions over SABC radio news. ”I am still going to go out there later on in the day,” he said.
The mayor of Musina, Caroline Mahasela, defended the evictions, saying the residents had been warned that the land they were occupying was earmarked for housing development. A spokesperson for the evicted people, Sinky Makushu, said residents were going to consult their lawyers. — Sapa