About 30km from Africa's richest square mile lies a hidden melting pot of cultures and a growing working class shanty town that nobody has been paying attention to except its inhabitants.
Welcome to Mooiplaas, or “Spruit” as locals prefer to call it. It's a few kilometres off the R55 that links the west of Tshwane and the north of Johannesburg, in Centurion. It lies behind untouched, dense natural thicket yet it's a 15-minute drive from the Sandton CBD.
While it's difficult to get accurate estimations of the current population figures of Mooiplaas, locals estimate that there are about 50,000 people living in the area and the figure keeps rising.
According to Census 2011 figures, Mooiplaas had a population of 14,979, with most of them speaking Pedi.
What attracts people to Mooiplaas is its proximity to potential job opportunities, considering it's within walking distance of Sunderland Ridge in Centurion – home to dozens of factories.
An old man who introduced himself as Babu Khumalo, who has lived in the area for about five years, told Sowetan: “Here in Spruit, it's just us and our bodies, nothing else.”
There are few signs of service delivery in Mooiplaas, which falls under the City of Tshwane. There are several water tankers stationed at corners where locals queue carrying large buckets and plastic containers throughout the day to get water.
There are several high-mast lights, which locals said last worked in 2015. There is electrical infrastructure that includes electrical poles and street lights but the place is as dark as a cave at night with no electricity.
There are also a few communal mobile toilets, however most locals have dug their own pit toilets near their shacks.
In the centre of the congested informal settlement there's a football ground, which serves as the only form of entertainment with regular soccer tournaments drawing large crowds, according to Billy Mamogobo, who arrived in Mooiplaas aged 19 from Limpopo seeking "greener pastures" in Gauteng.
Mamogobo, 36, from GaMarishane near Jane Furse, lives with his wife and four children. He is unemployed and they rely solely on the SA Social Security Agency grants for survival.
Despite the place not having electricity, proper roads, schools or any decent infrastructure, there's a constant buzz with people going about their daily activities.
It has a number of tuck shops largely owned by foreigners from Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia just like many other townships in SA.
A group of children playing soccer spoke Portuguese to one another, indicating the diversity of the community as there’s a large population from Mozambique.
Mamogobo said there are also immigrants from most of the neighbouring countries including Zimbabwe, Malawi and Lesotho who have also made the place their home.
Just on the other side of the soccer field lies an informal taxi rank which has cross-border taxis..
Housing units built in nearby Olievenhoutbosch Ext 27 by the provincial department of human settlements were meant for the residents of Mooiplaas but have been illegally occupied.
Most locals that Sowetan spoke to have already given up hope of getting the houses.
They complained about crime, saying their area turns into a no-go area, especially at night, as criminals target those coming from work late.
Sonnyboy Malebe, the chair of the SA Residents Programmes Association (Sarpa), an NGO which operates in the area, said they were trying to help the residents to deal with the injustices that they have been facing, including not getting RDP houses meant for them. They were also helping raise awareness of the poor service delivery in the area.
“Here in Mooiplaas we are focusing on ensuring that residents get decent houses and decent land space to be able to build their houses here in Mooiplaas if they wish to,” Malebe said.
But the future of many Mooiplaas residents remains uncertain after a land owner approached the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to remove those who are occupying three portions of his land that make up this large settlement. They have until Thursday to vacate the three portions or face eviction.
Sarpa said it's planning to oppose the eviction in court next week.
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