Jwaneng squatters scamper to new camp

THATO CHWAANE
Staff Writers | Wednesday March 21, 2007 00:00

 

As word reached many that Monday was the D-Day for demolitions, the settlers could be seen frantically dismantling what were once their homes.

Metseame Mashiakgomo, who was amongst the first to occupy the area, was filled with sadness as she related her story. 'Re tshaba go thubelwa (we are afraid of the demolitions),' the 65-year-old pointed to her grandchildren and husband carrying corrugated iron roofing sheets to the new camp. Mashiakgomo said they had heard that the 'yellow monsters' (Caterpillars) were on the way; hence they had to cart away as much property as they could before it was all destroyed.

She said they had been trying to dismantle everything but it had taken longer than expected. 'Go huduga go bokete, re tshogile go riana, (moving homes is always hard, we are afraid),' she said.

'Some people applied to the land board as far as 1984 and are still waiting to be allocated land,' she lamented. In the meantime, she explained that they had no choice but to remain in the squatter camps. 'It would be better if people could be allocated land and then promised that they would receive social services later,' she said.

Mashiakgomo said many of them had children who were still at school while others were ill and would be forced to live in a place  which had no water.

She said after 16 years at the squatter settlement, she was contemplating returning to her home village of Kanye.

However, it is not all gloom and doom at the camp as some people have taken advantage of the situation to make money, transporting various items to the new settlement and charging the desperate squatters between P30 to P60.

Bothikga Tsogo said most people have not had a night's sleep since they were told to relocate last month. When Mmegi visited the new squatter camp, a few metres opposite the Industrial site, Tsogo was busy nailing his shack together.

Another resident, Keikemetse Tebonyane from Khakhea, was pessimistic about the future. 'E ka re nka swa (I wish I could just die),' she said.

 She said many were happy to stay at the Industrial site because they were provided with some basic social services, including water standpipes. She said for the past three weeks she had not been able to make fat cakes for sale, adding that most of the children were no longer at schools because of the disruptions and the uncertainty over where next they would lay their heads.

Mphonono Ochipile and Ralongwaneng Tshominyane said they were contract workers but had not reported for duty that morning because they were moving and preparing shelter for their children to have some place to sleep.

Lands and Housing minister, Dikgakgamatso Seretse, warned that the squatters had 'until the end of February' to move out in light of a court order given last year.

Jwaneng Town Clerk Jimmy Nsala said there were no specific dates in the letter written to the squatters, except that they (officers) would be coming for evictions during the week starting March 19.

He said almost 50 percent of the residents had moved out but that it was the ministry's prerogative to determine whether the squatters had moved from the Jwaneng boundaries.