THANDI XABA
Following the eviction of over a hundred families from Bokamoso Informal Settlement in Maluti-a-Phofung municipality in the Eastern Free State, the United Resident Front (URF) will be marching tomorrow in protesting against the inhuman conditions the evictees are living in.
Leader of the URF Lekhotla ‘Bongoman’ Raammiki says the municipality erected shacks for the displaced families, yet they have proven to not be durable. “The material used for the shacks are not strong and there is no toilet,” he says. In total 142 families have been displaced.
According Raammiki, eviction orders stipulate that evictees must be catered for and further provided with alternative accommodation where they can reside until conditions get better, yet the municipality has not delivered any of these. “The the municipality provided sites to the family yet it isn’t efficient.”
The march is open for all Maluti-a-Phofung residents who have taken heed into the dire conditions that have transpired, following the eviction at Bokamoso Informal Settlement.
“All this has been a violation of rights and the families have been suffering over the past week,” says Raammiki. Meanwhile the mayor’s, Vusi Tshabalala, office maintains the displaced families are well looked after and everyone is settled where they have been located.
The families were evicted by the Maluti-A-Phofung municipality from the informal settlement about three weeks ago, for occupying the land for over two years without the correct authorisation.
