Following the rapid erection of thousands of shacks on the foot of Erasmia, in the Mooiplaas area, by illegal squatters and the panic by local residents, the Laudium Sun team went into the area, to see what exactly was happening.
New shacks were also spotted being erected nearer to the main M26 Road. At the informal settlement area, the team met the ‘chief’ of the new camp, Sanyboy Malebe, who invited the team into his office, where he presented a map of the future envisaged development of the area, which he called the Ntswane Village.
Sanyboy told the Laudium Sun, “I’m the elected leader of this newly built Ntswane Village and this whole development is for our Black people who don’t have homes and are looking for one. We are offering them a place to stay because we don’t want any Black South African to suffer in our society. Currently, we have about 3,000 families who bought stands in Ntswane Village and they are all South Africans. There are no non-South Africans living here presently. We are expanding rapidly and we want to help every South African who doesn’t have a place to stay, offering them stands at very affordable prices. We are only asking them to pay for the services we provide.”
Sanyboy added, “In 2016, we fought for this land and won several cases. Finally, the Gauteng Government offered us this piece of land where we can help all South Africans looking for land to build their houses. Local Blacks who were staying in Atteridgeville and other overcrowded squatter camps are now being offered the chance to buy stands in this village. We charge R750 per month from residents for services such as water and security. We don’t have electricity yet, but as time progresses, the village will have all necessary services. Even those who bought stands here will eventually receive title deeds.
This place will no longer be a squatter camp, as we want to build a proper township with accessible services like hospitals, post offices and more in the near future. Though the land is pre-approved by the government, full approval is still pending. We are still fighting for proper rights for this land and over time all the paperwork will be sorted out and the government will fully approve it for use by South Africans. This is just the beginning, and we have a bigger vision for the welfare of the former disadvantaged South African Black people.
Any outsiders who are not staying in Pretoria and want to buy a stand from us are charged R20,000. But those living nearby in Pretoria don’t pay for the stand; they only pay R750 per month for our services. The history of this land goes back 15 years. The Gauteng Provincial Government paid R75 million to an Irish national, Gerald O’Rourke, who is the director of Chieftain Real Estate (incorporated in Ireland). We believe that Gerald illegally occupied the mountain where this new village is being put up now. It is our belief that he allowed some foreign nationals to put up shacks and claimed ownership of the land. Somehow, he convinced the Gauteng Government that this land belonged to him and eventually sold it to the government for R75 million. Even now this land has not been properly allocated to us because court cases are still ongoing. I hope that in the near future, we will reclaim this land, which belongs to South Africans and not outsiders.”
Sanyboy concluded, by saying, “There were certain politicians from Laudium who tried to contact us as they were interested in this land, but we ignored their calls. Some business people from Laudium also showed interest in setting up businesses on this land, but this land is not for sale, nor for any invaders. I work on behalf of South African people, this land belongs to South Africans who are unable to exercise their constitutional right for a place to stay in.”
Attempts to get hold of Gerald O’Rourke were unsuccessful. However, the Laudium Sun managed to get hold of his daughter, Dee O’Rourke, who told the Laudium Sun, “You should not believe everything that Sanyboy has told you concerning the said land. I am not prepared to make further comments on what he has told you’ll concerning our company’s involvement with the land.”
