Demolition of homes in Alex informal settlement to prevent clashes between community members, says ward councillor

JOHANNESBURG - Seven homes have been demolished at an informal settlement in Alexandra, Johannesburg, with the city citing the structures were built on crucial electricity infrastructure, causing rampant outages in the area.

Extension 7 ward councillor, Tefo Raphadu, said they were forced to go ahead with demolitions after the residents refused to collapse their homes and enable City Power to conduct repairs on a faulty cable.

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In a similar case in 2023, angry residents whowere without power for weeks retaliated and demolished a property built on cables so that repair work could be conducted.

Raphadu said the latest move was to prevent clashes between community members.

"After a back-and-forth with the community, we decided to go and break because now this community is fighting and saying where do these people come from. These ones are saying, 'no, but we have no were to go.'"

He laimed that residents crying foul over the latest demolitions did not even live in the area.

"There are people who are arming shacks and renting them out for economic purposes. So, for them, it's not about we are displacing people but for them we are disrupting their own pockets."