The veterans — from the ANC’s Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), Pan Africanist Congress’ Azanian People’s Liberation Army (Apla) and Azapo’s Azanian National Liberation Army (Azanla) — and their family members have been occupying 261 residential flats in Aloe Ridge social housing development in Pietermaritzburg since February 2018. They have opposed several High Court granted eviction orders.

The agreement was reached after marathon negotiations on Sunday and Monday this week and will see government using millions of rands to build houses for thousands of KZN-based military veterans in the next 18 months.

Some of the flats occupied by military veterans at the Aloe Ridge flats near Pietermaritzburg on 14 December2021. (Photo: Phumlani Thabethe)

The deal, which also commits government to pay rent for military veterans currently living in Aloe Ridge was announced by Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi and KZN MEC Human Settlements and Public Works Jomo Sibiya.

But government also warned that some of the illegal occupiers who are not veterans but opportunists including civil servants who are using the veterans’ gripe with the government, will have to move out immediately or will be forced to do so.

Kubayi and Sibiya were forced to address the issue after days of tension and a stalemate.

Young children play outside the Aloe Ridge flats near Pietermaritzburg where former ANC MK soldiers live with their families. Government say they must move out. (Photo: Phumlani Thabethe)

The early hours of Sunday 12 December 2021 saw the latest defiance by the armed group when they fired shots in the air and sang Struggle and military songs, readying themselves to prevent the Red Ants from carrying out the latest court order and evicting them from the flats. The volatile situation was only defused when police prevented a shootout between the veterans and the security guards accompanying the Red Ants to effect the court order.

The Aloe Ridge residential flats is a R353-million housing project launched in 2014 comprising two-bedroom flats. The project is a government-private initiative whose aim was to provide housing for low-income Pietermaritzburg residents who cannot afford bonds and do not meet the criteria for accessing RDP houses.

The national Department of Human Settlements owns 60% of the project, the KZN Department of Human Settlements 20% and private company Capital City Housing owns the other 20%.

The project was officially opened with much fanfare by former president Jacob Zuma in April 2017.

The veterans said they occupied the flats in February 2018 after years of empty promises from various government departments to provide housing for veterans and their families.

Former Azanla member Thamsanqa Ngemahas accused the government of not showing respect for military veterans.  (Photo: Phumlani Thabethe)

Thamsanqa Ngema, a former member of Azanla, asserted that they were “illegal invaders but we are occupying these flats until our demands for decent housing for veterans are met”.

“The government and its officials do not respect us as military veterans. Why must we go into the streets before our demands are met, why must we fire ammunition, why must we fight before our demands are met? We have several agreements with the Department of Military Veterans, of Human Settlements and the KZN Department of Human Settlement and millions have been set aside to build houses for the veterans. These agreements have not been effected.

“There are thousands of military veterans in KZN but so far only 24 houses have been built for veterans. We are saying we are going nowhere. We will not move from here in Aloe Ridge unless they give us keys to our new homes. We have nowhere else to go. We are prepared to spill blood and die just to remain here. We cannot allow the spineless government officials to get away with the betrayal of the military veterans,” he said.

Lucky Mdluli, another veteran occupying the flats, said: “We invaded unoccupied houses which were built using government funds. We did not evict anyone to enter these flats. We were given keys.”

He added that government has ignored several court interdicts ordering it to build houses for the veterans so that the Aloe Ridge impasse can be resolved.

“In September they (Capital City Housing) went behind our back and approached the Pietermaritzburg high court to obtain a court order to evict us. When we got wind of this we approached our lawyers and also armed ourselves to prevent any eviction,” he said.

Former ANC MK soldier Sipho Gabela (52) , who is sick, is one of the people living at the Aloe Ridge flats just outside Pietermaritzburg. He is also worried about being thrown out onto the streets. (Photo: Phumlani Thabethe)

Sipho Gabela (52) is one of the veterans who was prepared to die rather than allow them to be evicted from the apartments. He was an MK combatant and he returned from exile in 1993. He was shot by the police in the KZN Midlands in the 1980s during the Struggle which left him effectively paralysed and he is on chronic medication. He cannot move without assistance.

“We would rather die here,” he said.  “We have been hearing promises for houses for so long. Since our return from exile, we have been promised this and that but we are living the lives of destitutes.”

Nokuthula Ndlovu (47) could not hold back tears as she explained her situation at the Aloe Ridge flats just outside Pietermaritzburg. She is the widow of a former ANC MK soldier. (Photo: Phumlani Thabethe)

Nokuthula Ndlovu (47), her three children and one grandchild are among the illegal occupiers who have nowhere else to go. Her husband, Mandlenkosi Ndlovu was a former MK combatant. He was an SANDF captain when he died of cancer in 2004.

She was in tears as she explained how her husband died at the time when he was trying to buy a bonded house for his family in Pietermaritzburg. “We had entered a new house just before his death. The previous owner (of the house) said the deal fell through and ordered us — myself, my three children and my 89-year-old mother-in-law — to evict from the house. I was still wearing black mourning clothes and we had to start looking for places to rent. Since then we have been moving from one lodging to another. When veterans came to occupy these flats they called us in and we came because we could not afford to rent.

“Government has been promising the veterans and their families houses for many years. We have produced all sort of documents that shows that our claim to housing are legitimate. But government officials do nothing about our situation. When we were told that they are going to evict us, I sent my mother-in-law, who is 89 and is almost blind, away to live with relatives. She was crying but we just had no choice because we couldn’t bear seeing her being thrown into the streets,” said Ndlovu, who herself suffers from several chronic illnesses that don’t allow her to stand for longer than five minutes at a time.

Nu Maphalala, spokesperson for Capital City Housing, could not be reached for comment on the allegations levelled at the company despite getting a detailed media enquiry.

Minister of Human Settlements Mmamoloko Kubayi told journalists that 52 military veterans who are occupying the Aloe Ridge flats have been verified as military veterans and 161 are currently being verified by the Department of Military Veterans.

“Whilst we have a duty to look after those who qualify for fully subsidised government houses we cannot promote illegal occupation of private properties, anarchy and lawlessness. This affects service delivery and has no place in a democratic government. We don’t want eviction that will lead to bloodshed or loss of life,” Kubayi said, adding that government has committed to pay rent for the military veterans occupying the Aloe Ridge flats until they are given government housing.

Kubayi said government has also taken a decision to evict other illegal occupiers like civil servants within the next seven days, failing which they will be forcefully removed.

She said these civil servants had taken advantage of the plight of the military veterans by allocating themselves units at the Aloe Ridge housing project.

“We have taken a decision that those public servants must either sign lease agreements or vacate and hand over the keys to the social housing institution within seven days,” Kubayi said. DM