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- Scores of people who occupied land near Lourierpark in Bloemfontein are on edge and say anything can happen after a violent eviction by the Red Ants last month.
- Those left behind have been given a grace period by the Mangaung metro. Instead, they want services to be installed as they settle.
- In the series On The Road, News24 is traversing the country to gauge South Africans' feelings ahead of the elections.
While the upheaval of nearly a month ago at Lourierpark has subsided, those who are still there behind walk a tightrope between the fear that they too will be removed and left destitute, and the hope that it will be a place where they can stay permanently.
The Red Ants demolished hundreds of structures between 4 and 7 March at Lourierpark, just outside Bloemfontein, after the Mangaung Metro Municipality enforced a court order.
About 80 people who managed to complete their shacks still live on the unserviced sites. But they remain on edge as "anything could happen".
ON THE ROAD | 'Village boy' steps in to fix Mahikeng's roads, 'using bricks and sand'
When News24 visited the site, some were scared that they were about to receive bad news.
Still, they told the News24's On The Road team, life is better there.
Living there means living without water, toilets and electricity.
They must collect water from a tavern - a significant walk away - which has become their communal tap in Lourierpark.
To relieve themselves, they must walk the same distance to use bathrooms at the tavern, sometimes even at night.
"We are not scared because there is security there," Thandeka Marman (32) said, referring to security officers who guard both the area and the tavern.
The site is heavily guarded by municipal contracted security to ensure no one else invades the land.
Marman, like most residents, moved to the site last month in search of what she described as dignity.
For her, dignity means finally providing a space that her children can call home.
"We moved here because we needed a place to stay; other people used to pay rent, and they can no longer afford to pay it.
"Some people here have stayed at other informal settlements for 25 years. We struggled with water and sewage where we lived before, which is why we moved here," Marman said, adding that they had been promised houses for years and had not seen results.
Local media reported last month that more than 1 500 fully or partially erected structures were in the area, and thousands of cars were parked for kilometres along Jagersfontein Road.
The eviction by the Red Ants followed a 2 March court order allowing them to evict the people and prevent further illegal land grabs. When the Mangaung metro was dilly-dallying on the matter, the DA in the Free State and the local Ratepayers Association turned to the courts to force the municipality to enforce the court order.
Lourierpark residents also barricaded the entrances to the area and threatened to remove the invaders, Bloemfontein Courant reported.
Melita Mohale (44) recalled the events of 2 March.
"I was coming from work that day, and then there was a meeting at my ward – I was staying in Ward 8, Pieter Swart, it was [an] informal settlement. I stayed there for 11 years. There are no services, there's no water, there are no toilets, nothing.
"So, the councillor promised us that there are three [stretches of land] available in Bloemfontein - the one next to the airport, the one here in Lourierpark, and the one next to Grootvlei. And then he sent us here to Lourierpark. He selected 50 people. I was one of them.
"So, I came on the second of March. But then it was a stampede here. We didn't have a place to stay. We decided to go back. And then, [the] same day, there was a court order issued. And then they said we have to stop everything, because they don't want us, they don't want us here.
"But then, luckily, maybe I deserve a permanent place to stay. Because I did finish my shack. So, they didn't chase me away."
Mohale said she made the move for her 12-year-old daughter.
" ... now they are promising us to get a permanent stand. That is what I need for my kid, because now I was staying there, not knowing whose place is that. So now, I'm going to get my permanent place."
"I would like for them to give us land. That's the main priority because now, if I die, who is going to look after my kid if maybe something happens to me, a bad thing happens here? I can go back home. What about my kid? She doesn't have a place. So, I'm doing this only for her."
Asked if her life was better there than at Pieter Swart, Mohale answered decisively: "Yes."
Busisiwe Mvula (39) also moved to the site last month when she heard the ward councillor had announced that land was available and ready. She was reluctant to name the ward councillor.
"I wanted a space that I could call my own because I was tired of paying rent. When I heard that space was available, I knew I had to come because I needed a place to call my own.
"Living here is painful because there are no services. We don't have toilets, we don't have water, and we struggle for transport. It's very painful living here," Mvula said.
She said shacks that had not been demolished had been allocated numbers by the sheriff of the court after the demolition.
"This (being allocated a house number) gives me hope; it means we will be all right and get somewhere," she said.
The mother of two explained that during the week, her children and many other children were sent to accommodations closer to the school because there was no transport to and from the area.
However, she added that transport, a gravel road, water and toilets were among the promises made when they moved to the area.
"They make promises, and they don't materialise, because three weeks they said they would provide toilets, but nothing has happened.
"Sometimes, when you lay your head on your pillow, you want the peace of knowing where your children are; they are not in the streets."
The land which had been invaded was initially earmarked by the metro for township development.
In 2017, the municipality appointed an environmental management practitioner to explore the feasibility of developing a township on land of about 357ha.
An independent Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) report on the feasible development of a township extending to Lourierpark detailed various aspects, including the significant cost implications.
"Our recommendation, based on the assessment of the available information, is that application for the Proposed Lourierpark Development should be authorised provided that sensitive planning, design and good environmental management be carried out by the proponent during all phases of development," the report read.
