Cape Town - Holding back tears, while tightly clutching the shoulder of her 3-year-old son, Nomapheli Pupu says the trauma of the evictions that took place in Lwandle a few months ago is still real.
“There are nights when I just can’t sleep, worrying that maybe (the) government will change its mind and evict us again.”
In June, Pupu and 839 other families woke up to sounds of rubber bullets and stun grenades. Law enforcement officers and the police had come to evict illegal squatters living on SA National Road Agency (Sanral) land.
The two-day evictions followed an interim Western Cape High Court order that was granted to Sanral in January to remove the squatters from the land.
Some squatters burnt their shacks and 10 people were arrested for public violence.
For two months Pupu and the rest of the families squatted in a community hall and on August 26 they were allowed to temporarily move back to the Sanral-owned land.
“We do not know what will happen next. Life is not the same any more,” she said.
“We have lost so much of our own belongings; our children are living in constant fear questioning whether police will come again and chuck us out of our homes.”
Pupu lost her caravan – which she used for her takeaway business – her bed, furniture and clothes during the chaos.
She, her husband and seven children use crates as makeshift beds.
She had also collected old, abandoned furniture and is dependent on her husband’s wages for food and electricity.
“We still don’t have electricity here, so we hook our electric lines to nearby houses and rent electricity from them. I pay about R400 a month.”
The mother of seven added that her children’s education had also been affected by the evictions. She said her children normally did “fairly well” at school, but their recent report cards were not as impressive.
“I don’t blame them. Their books and school bags were thrown out; everything was a mess.”
Xoliswa Masakala, a community leader, lost her job as a police volunteer because of the evictions.
Masakala and her husband, Albert, testified at the Lwandle Inquiry set up by Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu after the evictions. The inquiry wrapped up its work last week.
On Wednesday, the 296-page report was handed to Sisulu, who aims to use the findings as a benchmark for the execution of eviction orders.
Sisulu is to present her recommendations at a human settlements portfolio committee meeting next week.
Masakala’s husband was one of the 10 people arrested during the evictions.
“We are still attending court hearings because of that,” she said.
Masakala showed the Cape Argus photos that had been downloaded on the internet. The photos showed police pepper-spraying her husband lying on the ground.
“How could police treat my husband like that? He did nothing wrong.”
Masakala said living conditions in Lwandle were still harsh – there were only 20 toilets for the people living in 485 homes.
zodidi.dano@inl.co.za
- Cape Argus and Political Bureau
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