LEBOGANG SEALE
N O TEARS were shed yesterday when their shacks were dismantled and the occupants’ belongings loaded onto waiting trucks.
And no, it wasn’t the Red Ants coming to forcibly remove them.
Instead, 42 families from Mshenguville in Mofolo and 40 others from the old Vista University Campus in Dlamini were excited to be heading for their new homes.
The relocation was part of the City of Joburg’s multimillion project to eradicate about 180 informal settlements, and they were very happy.
The families were among 111 who were relocated to Lehae, a new RDP development near Lenasia.
Yesterday, the Mashimbye family and 29 other families living on vacant land in Dlamini were relocated.
And not a moment too soon.
When the Mashimbyes’ baby Brian was born, his parents, Douglas and Letta Mashimbye, were worried. They feared that he would not survive the filthy and unhealthy environment they lived in, so he and his mother went home to Giyani in Limpopo.
All their fears dissipated yesterday when, at about 6.30am, a fleet of trucks loaded with workmen arrived at the Dlamini camp site. They were armed with hammers and crowbars.
“Are they not Red Ants?” asked one resident.
“ Aikona(no), can’t you see they are not wearing red overalls?” replied another.
Many, like Letta, had been awake since dawn to remove their furniture and belongings, and within minutes the workmen began dismantling the shacks.
Ahead of the residents was a short journey to Lehae and the expanse of red and light brown RDP houses along the Golden Highway. Some of the Lehae residents came out of their houses to wave and ululate in welcome.
“It’s well controlled and ordered,” said Christina Mdluli, who has been living in Lehae for six years.
For the Mashimbyes and the other relocated families, arriving in Lehae was a moment of sheer joy.
Monica “Nokrismesi” Mshubane, 56, from the Old Vista University campus, was so thrilled that she cried – even before the City of Joburg’s housing MMC, Dan Bovu, cut the ribbon to her new house.
“I am so excited, I don’t know what to say. Thanks God.”
She later explained how she had partitioned her single room at the old camp so that she could share it with her three children.
Meanwhile, Letta didn’t waste any time and got down to scrubbing the floor and washing the windows of her new house.
“It was so difficult cooking in the same room that we slept and bathed in. We used to be ashamed of inviting people because the place was in a dumping site.
“Even now I can’t believe I have my own house,” Letta said.
Some resident decried the lack of clinics, schools and shops in the area. But they rejoiced at having a proper house they could call home.
Meanwhile, the land they had been living on was handed over to City Parks and Pikitup to be developed into parks and recreational facilities.