Tenants in cold after Red Ants eviction
The streets of Pretoria were coloured red after The Red Ants removed possessions of residents from a block of flats.
|||Pretoria - The Red Ants on Wednesday descended on the city centre once again, this time to evict residents from the RNS House flats in Madiba Street.
The men in their signature red overalls blocked off the intersection of Madiba and Bosman streets while another group cordoned off the intersection of Sophie de Bruyn and Madiba streets.
Tshwane Metro Police were brought in to divert traffic and prevent motorists and pedestrians from getting anywhere near the building.
Some of the Red Ants moved beds, cupboards, TV sets, sheets, paraffin stoves and luggage and dumped them in a nearby vacant parking area.
Screaming, shouting and the occasional warning could be heard from the men stopping anyone who wanted to make their way close to the building.
Some residents who stood at corners watching as their belongings were being thrown out on to the street said they were not surprised by the eviction.
Agnes Sekanka who has been staying at the building since 2000 said she had just arrived at work close to the flats when she heard the commotion.
She pleaded with her employers to let her salvage anything she could.
“These people just pitched up at about 8am acting aggressively. They didn’t even give us a chance to see the court order or pack up our things. It's not the first time that this has happened to us; we were evicted on February 3, 2015, as well and were able to come back after the court ruled the eviction illegal.”
Tabia Kwenana said their problems with the flat owners started when they reported them to the rent tribunal that the flats were in a dilapidated state yet the rent kept on increasing.
“They keep increasing the rent even though there is no upkeep and maintenance of the place. They are doing this now because they know that we are due back at the tribunal on March 15 to sort out this mess,” said Kwenana.
She said the place was constantly filthy, taps were broken, toilets often did not operate and when it rained the building leaked.
The residents huddled in a corner saying they wanted to ensure that their belongings were not sold off as happened the last time they were evicted.
“Because so many people had already left for work by the time these people arrived, they end up selling people’s things to whoever wanted them. It won’t happen this time we are going to keep an eye on them,” said Sekanka.
Police spokeswoman Augustine Selepe said nothing had been reported to them by Wednesday afternoon and the situation seemed calm but they were monitoring the situation.
goitsemang.tlhabye@inl.co.za
Pretoria News