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HOUSE TORN DOWN!

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Alfred Mhlala and his wife Constance Mohlala stand near the rubble left behind by the Red Ants in December when they demolished their house.      Photo by Morapedi Mashashe
Alfred Mhlala and his wife Constance Mohlala stand near the rubble left behind by the Red Ants in December when they demolished their house. Photo by Morapedi Mashashe

THE Mhlahla family find themselves in a desperate situation.

The family of five from Atteridgeville, west of Tshwane, has been living in a two-roomed shack for over seven months now.

This after their house was mistakenly demolished by the Red Ants in December.

On 5 December, the Red Ants removed hundreds of illegal squatters in extension 19, Atteridgeville.

During the evictions, the Mhlahla’s four-roomed house was unfortunately also destroyed.

Alfred Mhlahla (47) said his house was not on the illegal land. He said it was next to the shacks built by the land invaders and when the Red Ants came to demolish the shacks, they also broke down his house.

According to him, he tried to explain and pleaded with them that his home was legal, but they demolished it anyway. “I watched them bulldoze my house from the ground and there was nothing I could do about it.

“They just told me they were doing their job,” he said.

Alfred said he went to the department of human settlement in the hope that they would help him.

“I also went to the office of the City of Tshwane but no one could help me. I used my retrenchment money to build that house for my family and now we have nothing,” he said.

“I don’t want money. I just want my family to live in a warm house,” he said.

The department of human settlements said it was not aware of the case.

But Red Ants chief operations officer Fuzile Balintulo said they would look into the matter.

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