Statement by GOOD
23 June 2021
President Ramaphosa’s call on South Africans to “stay safe and stay home” to mitigate the impact of the third wave of Covid evidently fell on deaf ears in Johannesburg, where the sheriff’s office has its hands full evicting tenants behind with their rent and chucking them and their belongings on the streets.
Last week it was the turn of 70-year-old Bellavista pensioner, Hennie Swarts, who has stayed with his family at the same address for 28 years.
When Swarts’ daughter approached the police, baby son in arms, to ask why the family was being evicted she was pepper-sprayed in the face, Swarts said.
“After so many years staying in the house, it took just a few minutes for 20 men in overalls to clear out all our family’s belonging and dump them on the sidewalk,” Swarts said. The workers were accompanied by a strong detachment of police.
In a panic, Swarts tried reaching out to his ward councillor but was told there was nothing the council could do. He was advised, if unhappy, to approach the courts.
Swarts said the eviction caught the family totally off-guard. They had received no prior warning or notification, he said.
GOOD national chairperson Sam Shabane said members of the party visited the home while the eviction was in progress, describing the scene as a nightmare.
“The police insisted they were only there to protect the sheriff and his staff. Is this why they had to pepper spray a mother asking for clarity? Then neighbours and passers-by crowded around and started looting the family’s possessions,” Shabane said.
“Do the people who carry out evictions not receive any training to reduce the potential for conflict and show a little basic human compassion,” Shabane asked.
When GOOD Johannesburg representative, Matthew Cook arrived at the scene he asked the people who appeared to be in charge of the eviction for a copy of the eviction order, he was informed that it was not on site.
Subsequent investigation revealed that ownership of the house had changed hands without the family being informed. Swarts believes that the house is the latest to be hijacked by a syndicate working in the area with links to the Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO).
While taking statements from the Swarts family, GOOD was alerted to another eviction taking place in the nearby suburb of Turfontein, where a commune housing some eight families were being evicted.
Some of these families had allegedly been paying rent while others had fallen on tough times, but those carrying out the evictions didn’t bother making any distinctions.
Everything in the house was piled outside on the street. Paying tenants rushed home from work to find their household contents had already been removed. In GOOD’s presence, one of the tenants called the landlord who apologised for the inconvenience and gave the assurance that paying tenants would be allowed back into the house.
Those who had stopped paying rent faced spending the winter night outside. While scrambling to protect their belongings, calls went out to shelters to look for alternative places to sleep. But in the middle of winter, with homelessness on the rise, shelters were over-full, and residents were left to sleep on the street.
“We fully comprehend the predicament landlords face when tenants don’t pay rent. What we can’t comprehend and don’t accept is the callousness and disregard with which the Sheriff and police carry out their work – particularly in mid-winter in the midst of a pandemic,” Shabane said.
Ends…