Question NW1826 to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans
17 September 2020 - NW1826
Komane, Ms RN to ask the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans
What are the reasons that the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) is (a) disregarding court orders prohibiting the eviction of the community of Marieville in Ekurhuleni, of which the last court order that was issued in June 2020 ruled that the SANDF must immediately return to the community all building materials and possessions confiscated and (b) still harassing the community?
Reply:
1. What is the reason that the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) is
a) The SANDF did not disregard any court order. The SANDF does not have any plan to evict anyone without any court order and its eviction court application process is under way. The members of the community would stay there until the eviction process by the SANDF has been adjudicated upon and finalised.
It is also important to mention that the residents who left the Happiness Village or the military land concerned have done so freely and this was after the Ekurhuleni Municipality intervened by – inter alia – asking the community members who wanted to be relocated to a place called Zamani, to be so relocated and the process ran smoothly with the SANDF assisting the Municipality therein. The building materials and possessions that have been removed are those belonging to the very same community members who have agreed to move to Zamani. This was done in order to enable the Municipality to know how many shacks and families have been moved and how many are still to remain at Happiness Village/ military land concerned. This approach is intended to help the Municipality to manage the situation better, should the eviction by SANDF of those illegal occupants succeeds.
b) The SANDF members are not harassing anyone and our plea has always been, when the eviction process is still underway, the illegal occupants should be requested not to bring extra shacks and/ or allow new occupants to prevent the mushrooming of the number of people staying there, because if this could be allowed, same will create a very serious problem for the Municipality if it is to assist with an alternative accommodation should they be finally evicted.