By Doreen Mokgolo
A group of over 100 people who had built shacks on land they bought from fraudsters for up to R15,000 a plot spent a cold and rainy night in the open after police demolished the illegal structures.
The residents of Marikana Ext 9 in Daveyton were left homeless after members of the Ekhurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) Land Invasion Unit demolished their shacks and took away the materials used to build them on Monday morning.
The police ordered them to vacate the area immediately.
The desperate residents fell into a trap when fraudsters promised them that the sales were legitimate by providing them with fake proof of purchase documents for the plots of land they sold them for between R5,000 and R15,000.
Over 100 shacks were put up since the beginning of the year, and the numbers were expanding daily.
One angry resident, Sophy Senwamadi, said that after discovering the sales were illegal, they opened fraud cases against the area’s committee members.
“We thought they were legit sales as everything was recorded, and we received proof of purchase,” Senwamadi said.
“We were shocked when the police told us that we are illegally occupying the land and instructed us to leave, or they would enforce land invasion bylaws.”
Senwamadi moved to Marikana Ext 9 to rebuild her life after running away from her abusive boyfriend.
She said EMPD members returned to the area on Tuesday, demanding that the homeless residents find alternative accommodation or their belongings would be confiscated.
“We don’t know where to go; we can’t afford to rent as we are unemployed,” Senwamadi said.
One of the fraud suspects, Andile Dlamini, told Scrolla.Africa that he sold four shacks that he owned.
“I am currently trying to find temporary alternative accommodation for them [the people that lost their homes]”.
“We were arrested for fraud and released on warning at the Daveyton Magistrate’s Court on Monday,” he said.
EMPD spokesperson Ann Makgato said: “Members of the EMPD Land Invasion Unit in the Eastern Region intervened and removed the shacks. Two suspects were arrested for illegally selling land to members of the community.”
Pictured above: Residents’ belongings scattered by land invasion officials.
Source: Supplied
