Evicted Alex residents threaten to take to the streets over housing

JOHANNESBURG - Some homeless Alexandra residents who've been evicted from government-owned container flats say it's only a matter of time before they take to the streets demanding houses.

They were forcefully removed from the flats nearly two weeks ago after the City of Johannesburg obtained an eviction order.

The flats were built in 2020 to accommodate residents living in overcrowded communities during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, due to various issues, the multi-million-rand container flats were never allocated, resulting in residents occupying them illegally.

READ: The homeless in Alexandra re-occupy shipping container flats

One of the homeless residents, Thapelo Machaba, said the City of Joburg was heartless, as they were forced to live on the streets while the flats remained vacant.

“We feel robbed, we feel undermined by our leadership. These containers have been empty since 2020 until now. Children are sleeping all over the streets, without shelter, without water, without food.”

READ: Evicted Alex residents lash out at CoJ, say it has neglected constitutional duty to ensure adequate housing

A mother, whose home is made of four mattresses and a thick blanket serving as a roof, described the pain of living on the side of the road.

“It's about to rain, it's cold and we live on the streets. We've lit a fire to keep warm. But what's going to happen to us when it rains?”

Joburg Human Settlements MMC, Mlungisi Mabaso, is scheduled to visit the container flats on Friday afternoon to provide an update on their allocation.