Some residents have found shelter in a local community hall after their shacks were demolished by the eThekwini Municipality at the Enkanini informal settlement in Bonela outside Durban. The residents went on the rampage in the early hours of the morning breaking water metres and blockading roads with burning tyres and stones.
They say they found their shacks already demolished when they returned from work on Thursday. They say their families were left stranded. 64 year-old Sthembiso Khoza is one of the locals whose shacks were demolished.
“I’m not okay. Even my kids don’t have a place to stay now. When I was returning from work yesterday I found my home demolished, by who? I don’t know and us owners were not told. Even my valuables were lost,” says Khoza.
Other residents have threatened to intensify the protest until their demands are met. Innocent Bronkhorst is among those making the threat.
“We’ve tried to speak to authorities but they ignore us. As a community we are really suffering. We live with our children here so we want government to intervene,” says Bronkhorst.
