Esselen Park residents on the East Rand are rebuilding their shacks, just a day after their homes were demolished by the EMPD officers.
Many say they have been on the RDP housing waiting list for over 2 year decades and that illegal occupation of the land is their only option.
Desperate demand for the vulnerable, these residents say they have lived a life of hardship without the basic needs.
57-year old Christina Ndlovu is an unemployed mother of three. She says she has ran out of patience.
“I registered for housing in 1996, but ever since nothing has been forthcoming. I live with my 3 children in a hired room. I can’t afford rent.”
Their shacks were dismantled on Monday, but they’re back to erect them.
Residents say they will continue to rebuild, despite authorities dismantling the structures.
City of Ekurhuleni says the backlog in Gauteng is at 600 000.
Ekurhuleni Human Settlement MMC, Lesiba Mpya says, “The people waiting as far as 1996 are a priority to ourselves. We have a very firm stance to illegal occupation of land. A particular land that’s been earmarked for broader development of people. Any shark that’s going to be erected, we are having a court order to actually do away with that.”
A housing project of at least 7 000 houses is expected to start in July.
