“Traumatized and heartbroken” were the words used by 47-year-old Sinqobile Maphosa to describe how she felt when her world collapsed when her home was demolished. On March 25, a budget of R100 302 for a house, her house, went down the drain. Maphosa wondered why me when she got a call from her neighbor informing her that her house had been demolished in the informal Ennerdale settlement in Lakeview. According to Maphosa, when she arrived at her home, there were people from the Gauteng Housing Department, escorted by operators from Red Ants Security Relocation & Eviction, along with the …
“Traumatized and heartbroken” were the words used by 47-year-old Sinqobile Maphosa to describe how she felt when her world collapsed when her home was demolished.
On March 25, a budget of R100 302 for a house, his house, went down the drain.
Maphosa wondered, why me, when she got a call from her neighbor informing her that her house had been demolished in the informal Ennerdale settlement in Lakeview.
According to Maphosa, when she arrived at her home, people from the Gauteng Housing Department were present, escorted by Red Ants Security Relocation & Eviction workers, along with the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD).
“I thought the housing department was going to build houses there, not demolish them,” he said.
Maphosa said that when she went to the housing department, having been referred to the 121 ward councilor Khazamula Chauke, she was informed that it was determined that her house had been demolished by “mistake”.
When asked for a comment by Saturday Citizen, Chauke said he was “busy” and did not provide comment.
“I asked for information, who will take responsibility for this?” Maposa said.
“I asked him and he told me the department said it was a mistake and they will rebuild my house, but they don’t know when.”
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“I can’t believe this is happening. All my life I have invested money in this house. I am now 47 years old without a home, and this was the first home for my family ”.
Thabile Mbhele, MMC’s spokesperson for housing in the city of Joburg, did not respond to a request for comment.
Maphosa said he didn’t understand why his house was demolished.
He only provided help to a community in need.
He said the community had no access to water and let them join their pipes to its main pipe.
“I went to the housing department to ask if they could provide us with water, but they refused. I bought my tubes and connected them all by myself. Since then, people have started connecting from my pipe, “she said.
“I don’t know if that was why they demolished my house.” Maphosa said there was no way she could rebuild her house.
A neighbor living near Maphosa, Gabriel Coetzee, said the incident was a big surprise.
He said that according to the housing department, the reason they demolished the house was because Maphosa “was absent and didn’t seem to reside there.”