(English) May 30, 2012
RIGHTFUL OWNERS: The Wimpy block of flats is now back in the hands of the government. Photo: ELFAS TORERAI.
Some of the families who lost their belongings during the October 2008 evictions from Wimpy, Kamogelo and Kagisano flats in Mafikeng have welcomed the North West High Court ruling that returns ownership of the properties to the government.
Last week the court dismissed with costs an appeal by MR Properties for R22m in compensation for the annulment of the alleged purchase of the flats from now dissolved North West Housing Corporation (NWHC).
MR Properties claimed it bought the properties for R22.6m and then moved swiftly to evict tenants, in October 2008.
However, Judge Adolf Landman ruled in November last year that there was no binding sale agreement between NWHC and MR Properties.
The NWHC was recently disbanded through an act of the legislature and the judgment spurred the provincial government to repossess the three blocks of flats and put them under the custody of the department of human settlements.
Many of the affected families recall with anger the day when the infamous Red Ants woke them up at about 5am before throwing their belongings over the balconies and through the windows.
Lebogang Thebe (not her real name), a mother of one, said: “I have not managed to overcome the trauma I went through during that time. My kid had to stay with my cousin while I squatted with a friend in the village as I did not have accommodation.
“I lost many belongings, beds, pots, clothes and books. Whenever I pass by the flats, I can’t help but feel the pain. Now that government has taken back ownership, I hope some of us would be prioritised for the purchase of the properties. I had stayed at the flats for 13 years.”
Like many other victims, Thebe had to seek medical attention for her stress.
Another resident, Blessing Chaunoita, said he had stayed in one of the flats for three years and was fortunate to have been around on the day of evictions.
“The exercise was so violently done. Those who were absent came back to empty and locked flats. The Red Ants came while people were asleep and by mid-day, they had thrown people’s belongings in the open.”
Tenants committee chairperson Daddy Sebolecwe said they were happy the state was finally taking charge of the properties, which had become subject to looting by criminals.
“Our gripe is that apart from losing their belongings, families were separated,” he said.
Some of the flats were built in the 1980s by Kwena Mangope, the son of Bophuthatswana’s chief minister, Lucas Mangope.
Source: The New Age
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