The community of Pomfret in the North West says it hopes it will soon have access to basic services after the Land Claims Court sitting in Randburg, Johannesburg, ordered two national government departments to provide them with basic services.
The Dutch Reformed Church approached the court on behalf of the largely Portuguese-speaking community.
Residents in the area say service delivery came to halt in 2008 after government relocated some residents to Mahikeng.
Local church leader Mario Hongolo says they are living in abject poverty.
“Water truck is not enough because maybe in a week it comes twice. We do not have [a] clinic here. We used to have it but the government removed it. In Pomfret [we do not have] electricity. I think it’s eight or nine years without [having] electricity. In this community, it is very bad. So I think the court order is fine and it will assist to bring everything [service delivery] back here,” says Hongolo.
Pomfret is a ghost town but home to 328 households.
Mainly Angolan war veterans of the former 32 Battalion.
Having fought alongside the apartheid government, they were relocated here in 1989.
Once a proud military base camp, boasting state-of-the-art facilities, it is now mainly ruins.
Pomfret villagers have been refusing relocation to more habitable areas.
The video below is reporting on the relocation attempts by the government:
