EFF Gauteng calls for the allocation of the Alexandra container houses and the immediate removal of the security companies and police officers following the tragic death of fighter Moshe Mphahlele
6 August 2024
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Gauteng calls on the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and Gauteng Department of Human Settlement to allocate the container houses to the needy residents in Alexandra. We also call for the immediate removal of the security companies and the suspension of the police Officers following the tragic death of Fighter Moshe Mphahlele.
Constructed almost four years ago for de-densification in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, these houses were intended to accommodate approximately 1,600 people. Despite being ready for occupation, the government has failed to allocate them to those in need. As a result of this inaction, residents of Alexandra began occupying these houses in 2023.
In February of this year, police were deployed to forcibly remove these residents without providing alternative accommodation, leaving the community in makeshift shelters and causing them lose their belongings. Activists, including Fighter Moshe Mphahlele, have consistently advocated for the reallocation of the residents back to these house. This call is inspired by the fact that the longer the houses remain unoccupied, the more they are prone to vandalism and other criminal activities.
The EFF demands that the evicted residents be reinstated into these houses, in honor of the legacy of Fighter Moshe Mphahlele. For years the people of Alexandra have been promised land and housing by the government. The President of the coalition, Cyril Ramaphosa, promised to build 1 million houses for the people of Alexandra and over RI.2 billion of the Alexandra Renewal is still not accounted for, yet the people of Alexandra continue to endure the humiliation of living on top Of each in congested and spaceless conditions just opposite the affluent area of Sandton.
The fact that the community has been subjected to the indignity of makeshift housing while vacant state social houses remain unused is a reflection of the sitting government's cruelty and insensitivity. With over 2.5 million people on the housing waiting list in Gauteng, some since 1996, it is unacceptable for the government to allow houses to remain empty while people suffer from landlessness and homelessness.
The EFF further calls for the immediate removal of the security companies deployed in the area, as their presence increases risk of contaminating the crime scene in which they are implicated. We also demand the suspension of all JMPD Officials involved in the incident leading to the death of Fighter Moshe Mphahlele, as they failed to manage the situation to ensure the safety of the people. All police and security officers that were present at the scene should be until a full report is conducted and delivered.
In honor of Fighter Moshe Mphahlele, the EFF will table a motion in the City of Johannesburg Council to demand the immediate allocation of these houses to the people of Alexandra.
Issued by Nkululeko Dunga, Provincial Chairperson, EFF Gauteng, 7 August 2024
