Relative calm has returned to Eersterust, east of Pretoria, where community members clashed with police during an illegal service delivery protest earlier on Friday.
Police used rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the crowd that had illegally occupied land in the area. Some of the resident alleged that they have been staying in backrooms and can no longer afford to pay rent after they lost their income due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Several community members were allegedly evicted by their landlords. The land grabbers started to occupy the vacant land earlier in the week.
Angry residents opposed to the land invasion blocked the roads leading into Eersterust. The Metro Police Department intervened with rubber bullets and tore down all the shacks.
But the invaders wouldn’t roll over and play dead. They returned on Friday. One of the invaders, who is also a mother of one-month-old baby, Janet Abrahams says, “It’s actually very sad, the baby doesn’t even breastfeed. He drinks milk. So if I want to make a bottle, I have to go out there because for now there’s no electricity here. I’m trying my best but it’s hard as a parent.”
The community members say they know that their actions are unlawful, but the land was already illegally occupied, opening the door for them to follow suit.
The land was technically invaded more than two years ago. About 50 people have been living here. However, the COVID-19 economic and social challenges have created a rapid influx of desperate community members who say they have no other option but to settle here.
Eersterust has had a housing shortage for years now with scores of families living in backrooms.
“We’ve never been included in the RDP projects. If we were included this would not have happened,” says one of the land invaders.
The community is divided over the land issue.
The Eersterust Action Organisation says it is not against people living on the land, but condemned the invasion. It says the land must first be developed and serviced.
Below is a report on the land invaders:
“Give our people that land and give it to them, let them allocate the land and let them build for themselves. Why must we go to that extreme for us to be heard. Wake up Makhura (Gauteng Premier), you have failed us once again,” says Eersterust Action Organisation’s Veronica Merian.
The City of Tshwane has condemned the land grab, calling it opportunistic and criminal.
The Gauteng government also cautioned against land grabs and threatened legal action against those who exploit the no-evictions law during the COVID-19 lockdown.
In the video below, tensions in the area were running high:
