MORE than 40 houses and 2 000 shacks have been demolished by the Red Ants army at Waterdaal informal settlement in the Vaal.
Shimmy Motloung (47), one of the people who lost his houses, said it was devastating to see his 12-room dream home being demolished.
“I have spent over R350 000 building this house. As community members, we were not aware that the stand we bought was privately owned,” said Motloung.
When the Sun Team arrived, Motloung, together with his wife and son, were salvaging what was left. He said they would be seeking clarity from the person who had sold them the stand.
“One of the residents said they bought stands for R15 000, and the person who sold us this one claimed to be working for the Department of Human Settlements. They said stands were being sold to community members who did not qualify for RDP housing or home loans.
“But today, we saw an army of Red Ants, accompanied by many trucks and tractor loader backhoe machines, destroying houses and shacks,” he said.
Octavia Vangile Mzimba (47) told Daily Sun that she had been living at Waterdaal for almost two years, and built her kids a home that was destroyed within five minutes, without any notice.
“I don’t know what we have done as black people. We are trying to build homes for our children, and the same people come and destroy them. The seller said this land was used as an initiation school and dump site, so he agreed with the owner to sell it,” said Mzimba.
Moeketsi Mabefu said many white people claimed had ownership of the land, which led to someone taking advantage by selling it illegally to desperate land seekers.
One of the Red Ants directors said community leaders had the court order, but decided not to inform people, and that the land was going to be developed for low-cost houses.
Human Settlements spokesman Luzuko Pongoma said the department had not ordered any demolition, and that the land was privately owned, so it could not negotiate with the community.
