Barely two metres from the busy R512 road leading to Lanseria Airport and Hartbeespoort dam, eight families have braved the inclement weather after they were evicted from the farm on which some had lived for more than 60 years.
The group ranges from the elderly to small children.
On Sunday night when the Pretoria News visited the evictees,65-year-old Priscilla Masilo and Jeremiah Mokoena, 73, sat on plastic chairs with the others, huddled around a fire to keep warm.
Scattered around them were their only belongings - blankets, mattresses and a few pots and pans.
They remembered the many years they worked on the nearby Botesdal from early morning until late.
Masilo was born on the farm in 1943. Her father worked there until he died in 1954 and Masilo and her grand-daughter had lived in a house their father built shortly before he died.
Mokoena, who was born in 1935 took over from Masilo's father and took care of the pigs on the farm.
The group includes 63-year-old Louisa Sibeko, who is now confined to a wheelchair and who worked on the farm as a tomato picker. She had to stop work 10 years ago following a stroke.
The families were evicted from the farm about a week ago and the City of Johannesburg wanted to relocate them to Adelaide Tambo Emergency settlement next to sewerage works.
But Masilo and her group refused to be relocated to a place where the stench is so pungent that they can barely eat their meals.
"We will stay here until they say we can go back to the farm. That is our home and we worked on the farm for most of our lives,"Masilo said.
An eviction order was sought against Masilo and the group as thefarm is earmarked for further development. The issue went to court in 2007 and the lawyer representing the group agreed to the eviction order without their consent .
Masilo said nobody would listen to their objections and their lawyer at the time merely told them to keep quiet.
Masilo said they were told afterwards that they had to vacate the farm, but were able to remain there until when they were evicted with the help of Jumbo Security.
Lawyers for Human Rights turned to the Land Claims Court in Randburg on Monday where they sought an urgent order to allow the people to return to the farm until the matter was resolved.
The matter was however postponed for a week.
Louise du Plessis, the lawyer acting on their behalf, said these people have been living on the farm for years - some even for decades - and qualified as long-term occupiers under the Extension of Security of Tenure Act.
The act gives occupiers a number of rights, including that if a tenant is older than 60 years and had been living on the particular property for longer than 10 years, he or she cannot be evicted, or in the alternative, must be suitably compensated.
Du Plessis said the situation whereby the people were now living next to the road,was a disaster waiting to happen.
Source: Pretoria News
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