MORE than 100 people were left homeless on Tuesday, 28 September after the Red Ants evicted them from flats owned by the SABC.
Children who lived in the Bop Flats in Mahikeng, North West, were ready to go to school when the Red Ants started taking their families’ possession away.
The residents occupied the flats in May after the SABC sold them to a private company. They said the community was not properly consulted and called on government to protect buildings constructed during the Bophuthatswana era.
They said although there was a court order to evict them, they should have been warned so they could remove their belongings.
Security guard Sello Maleke said he lost belongings he worked hard for. “I had just bought a new bedroom suite. Now I don’t know where it is,” he said.
Sello said he previously lived in Dibate Village but used the opportunity to get a flat when he learnt residents were occupying the building.
“I am just a security guard. I don’t earn much. I have applied for an RDP house but I have been on the list since 2016. I know it was wrong but I needed a place to live,” he said.
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Occupants’ spokesman Lungile Mtatiwane said their hearts were sore. “They came and destroyed our things without warning us. The SABC is fighting us,” he said.
Community leader Neo Morweng said evictions were cruel.
“We call on the Mahikeng Local Municipality to implement a serviced stands programme to help people who find themselves in these situations,” he said.
The SABC was granted an order by the North West High Court on 20 August to evict the occupiers.
The broadcaster decided to sell 20 houses and 60 flats as part of its turnaround strategy.
The broadcaster’s head of corporate affairs and marketing Gugu Ntuli confirmed the sheriff of the court executed an eviction order.
