Resident demands R50k each for family to vacate Ginger Park

A resident of an informal settlement in Paulshof, north of Johannesburg, told officials that they must pay him and his family members R50,000 each if they want to remove him.

Johannesburg Human Settlements MMC Mlungisi Mabaso led an oversight visit to the Ginger Park informal settlement, located between Witkoppen and Main roads on Sunday.

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Residents have illegally occupied both private and provincial land, which sit adjacent to each other.

Mabaso said his visit to Ginger Park followed the owner of the private property obtaining a court order to relocate residents of the informal settlement.

Preliminary numbers indicate that more than 400 residents live in makeshift structures.

The area lacks running water, toilets, or electricity, and has become a dumping site with overgrown grass.

At the centre of the settlement is a building where 60-year-old Thapelo Mogoboya said he started living 40 years ago after it was left to him by his employer.

He said over the years, other people began erecting shacks, but they did not pay rent to him.

When officials informed him of the court order requiring relocation, he refused.

“If you want to remove me from here, you have to get me a place. You must buy me a house where I can stay with my family, make sure it has electricity and water, and each and every person that belongs to me, you must pay R50,000,” he said.

Mogoboya denied allegations that he had hijacked the property