Residents of Phumlani Section at Msholozi Village outside Mbombela in Mpumalanga could soon find themselves on the streets. This after, they were issued with a court order compelling them to vacate the land they occupied.
They are accused by the Matsafeni Community Development Trust of illegally occupying the land.
The Residents of Phumlani village allege that the court order obtained in 2020, was only given to them last Tuesday. The order forces them to remove all their structures erected on the land in question.
Speaking on behalf of the concerned residents Willy Mkhonto says the eviction order will affect more than 500 households.
“How can they evict people of Phumlani because they are part and parcel of the settlement agreement from the beginning of the Matsafeni Trust. Secondly, is that in the eviction order it is stated that they are respondents of that order including the community itself whom, they called illegal occupants but those people are legal owners of the land. Phumlani Village Association they are part and parcel of the trust.”
The court order further instructs the sheriff to demolish the structures should the owners fail to comply with the order. Chairperson of the Matsafeni Community Trust, Benny Mabunda says they want to see the eviction order being implemented.
“The court and the sheriff of the court have instruction to implement this court order to evict everyone who is on the trust land illegally so. It’s true that the court order was issued in 2020 and the people were served during the application and had enough time to defend. So until the court granted an order to have them evicted from the trust land. That is where we stand at the present moment.”
Some of the residents of Phumlani were evicted from another piece of land not far from this area, a few years ago.
Meanwhile, last week, the concerned residents embarked on a protest action to demonstrate their frustration.
Mpumalanga community shares its concerns with SABC News:
