WATCH | Lesufi relocation promise to residents raises hope for houses

Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi’s offer to relocate some residents of Sporong informal settlement who were displaced by alleged zama-zama violence has raised hopes of fast-tracked housing delivery.

Lesufi visited the informal settlement yesterday to assess the situation before meeting displaced residents who are sheltering at the Randgate community hall in Randfontein.

His promises were met with applause from residents, many of whom said they no longer felt safe returning to Sporong.

The residents said they were excited they will finally be allocated homes − a process they expect to happen soon.

More than 600 people fled the informal settlement, after taking their children and taking whatever they could carry, and sought refuge at the hall, leaving behind most of their belongings.

Lesufi told residents those who had already been approved for housing subsidies would be allocated houses and would be informed when to move.

Those who had not yet registered were allowed to do so during the visit. “There are those who are saying they do not want to go back to where they came from. I’m here with the MEC for infrastructure [Jacob Mamabolo] and the MEC for human settlements [Tasneem Motara]. We have identified land where people will be taken temporarily,” Lesufi said.

He said the residents would be helped by the police to fetch their shacks from the informal settlement and build them at the identified land.

Lesufi was also accompanied by social development MEC Faith Mazibuko, and Gauteng police commissioner Lt-Gen Tommy Mthombeni also joined the visit.

Some residents told Sowetan they were hopeful the decision to relocate them would ensure they were finally allocated their permanent residence.

Wilhemina Mothlabi, 58, said she welcomed Lesufi’s decision because she had been waiting for a home for years. She said, however, that while Lesufi said they’d be moved to a temporary location, she feared it would not be safe.

“I never want to go back to Sporong. The constant gunfire was too traumatising. I don’t think I will ever set foot there again.”

Another resident said they were initially going to be part of the Montrose Mega Project in Randfontein and should be prioritised for homes. “What we want are houses and not the identified land that they want us to now occupy,” the man said.

“They once promised us five years back that we would occupy the Montrose houses, but that project has collapsed.”

Martha Henene, 63, said her only wish was to be given a home, saying the nightly gunfire at Sporong had made life unbearable. “We hardly sleep, and I live with my grandchildren, who are still minors. For that reason alone, I don’t see myself ever living in that area again. I just want the keys to a new home,” she said.

Henene also raised concerns about safety at the temporary relocation site identified by the government.

Another resident said she was relieved after Lesufi announced they will be moved from the hall within seven days.

Motara said some residents qualified to go to shelters under social development, and will be moved. “There are those that we are allocating because we had already done an audit in November. We are allocating them,” she said.

“There are those who don’t qualify - it’s either they are not South African, earning above a threshold or allocated a home prior. It means we can’t accommodate you; you need to find alternative formal accommodation.”

Lesufi had also assured residents that a police Nyala will be stationed in the area for the next seven days while a special unit deals with illegal mining activities.

After the premier left the community hall, there was a police Nyala and a large police presence there.

At around 4pm, however, a resident told Sowetan the police had left and that there was no officer patrolling the area.

DA Gauteng spokesperson for community safety, Michael Sun, said it was “deeply disturbing” that residents were compelled to abandon their homes after months of terror at the hands of illegal miners. “These families are now displaced and traumatised, uncertain if they will ever safely return home.”

He said that despite Lesufi knowing about the problem, communities continue to suffer while government responses remain reactive, fragmented and ineffective.

Sun said the DA had consistently demanded that the provincial government establish a dedicated anti-illegal mining special task team. “A piecemeal approach will not dismantle criminal syndicates of this scale,” he said.

Sowetan