THEIR landlord collected rent every month.
But the tenants didn’t know he had hijacked the building and was not the rightful owner.
They were thrown out of the Tshwane West building in Luttig Street by security guards on Monday.
After failing to negotiate with the guards and the fake owner, they allegedly torched the building.
A tenant said the people who evicted them should have taken into consideration the fact that they were not aware the building had been hijacked.
“We were prepared to work with the rightful owners to get to the bottom of the matter.
“The person who hijacked the building is a thug. Once we told him what was going on he switched off his phone. We suspect he destroyed his SIM card,” he said.
He said the tenants had already paid rent for the month and asked to move out at month-end.
“We’re waiting to get paid and don’t have any money. Where will we go? I suspect we were treated like this because a lot of the tenants are foreigners,” he said.
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Another tenant said she lost money and valuables during the eviction.
“I was at my stall when it took place. They stole my money, food and clothes.”
Captain Kay Makhubela said police were investigating a case of arson. He said no arrests had been made yet and no injuries were reported.
