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Scores of homeless people from the Gatvol squatter area in Heidedal are on the verge of being returned from the Klipfontein farm on the outskirts of Bloemfontein.
The Mangaung Metro Municipality has committed to relocating them at its own expense. These people voluntarily moved to the farm over the weekend searching for decent sites to stay at. This is according to Qondile Khedama, spokesperson of the metro.
However, according to Khedama, the Gatvol squatters invaded the Klipfontein farm. He said the council is currently allocating sites to qualifying beneficiaries who resided on the Bloemwater pipeline in crowded places in Caleb Motshabi and Khotsong. He said beneficiaries include people at the open spaces within Bloemfontein and their relocation are necessary due to overcrowding, as well as for health and safety reasons.
Preference for allocation will be given to people from the informal settlements that include the Cancer area, Cemeteries in Sports, Kgatelopele, MK Square and Rankie Square.
“All these people are screened and verified to ensure that they qualify. If you do not qualify, you are given notice of 14 days within which to vacate,” said Khedama.
Since Sunday (11/07) there has been an influx of people scrambling for sites on the farm. Despite threats of eviction was ongoing untill Monday.
Khedama said the municipality opened a case of trespassing on Sunday against the Gatvol squatters.
“The police could not assist with their removal due to a shortage of staff, as some of their members are assisting with protest actions in other provinces.”
The Gatvol people were informed that they will allocate sites at another place as the city council was in the process to purchase land in order for them to relocate. They will be allocated at another place along with homeless people currently squatting at the Khayelitsha informal area.
The allocation of sites has seen an exodus of several people who desperately need sites in the hope to start a better life with their families. When Express visited the Klip- fontein farm their desperation to get sites was visible on their faces and it could be heard in their voices too.
They risk their lives and that of their children to scramble for sites amid the height of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.
“I did not relocate to cause trouble, all I need is a site to start a decent life for me and my four children. More than seven-years I endured living in inhuman condition at a squatter area in Heidedal. I almost lost my daughter, NompumeleIo to TB. It is inhumane to be threatened with eviction by people in the same predicament as us. I cannot afford to buy, build or rent a decent house because I’m jobless,” said Boniswa Msina (42).
