Scores of residents from Freedom Square and Namibia in Bloemfontein on Tuesday occupied the piece of land filled with rocks to erect the shacks on Tuesday morning. 

One of the residents, who asked to remain anonymous, told OFM News residents have taken desperate measures to find a place to call home after failed, lengthy engagements with the councillor since 2015. The residents say they will continue to erect shacks because they do not have places to stay, despite the bad condition of the area.  

“The guy who was arrested by the police was the one who actually constantly went to the councillor and spoke to the councillor about allowing people or asking the councillor to speak [on] behalf of the community to the government, trying to fix the place to make sure that people will come and settle here. People are desperate, people need houses, people don’t have places to stay and as you can see, this is really bad - it’s terrible,” he adds.

It’s understood that one resident was nabbed by the police for public violence after residents took to the streets and blocked the Singonzo Street in Phelindaba near Rocklands.  

In 2017, the Constitutional Court passed a judgment that judges should ensure evictions will not leave people homeless. Since the national lockdown due to the spread of Covid-19, some residents have found themselves in trouble with their landlords over evictions whilst others squared off with municipalities across the country over the battle for a piece of land.

“We have a lot of people coming from different locations, who want to come and put their shacks here so we were making sure that we close all the boundaries and unfortunately the police came and they talked about the curfew, Covid-19, and unfortunately one of our ladies was arrested for public violence. So, we hope she comes back and continues building,” the anonymous resident further adds.

OFM News/Lucky Nkuyane and Blaine Jones