More than 30 families at Dopeni looked helplessly on as their houses were being demolished by bulldozers and excavators on Tuesday, 4 February. The action followed after the legal owner of the land apparently grew tired of pleading with the occupants to get off her land.

Ms Ruth Nthangeni holds the legal title deed to the piece of land, obtained by her late husband many years ago. She said that, after her husband passed away in 2015, she consulted with the royal family and informed them about his death. “It surprised me when the royal family started to sell stands on the land to individuals.” This illegal selling of stands on her land by the local traditional authority began in 2019.

Nthangeni said that she went to the Dopeni Royal Council to stop them from selling land to the community, but they ignored her. Some people were busy erecting luxury houses on her land. She said that she warned them on numerous occasions not to build their houses there, but they too refused to listen to her.

She and her family tried to engage in discussions with the Traditional Authority on several occasions, but to no avail. “Every time we went there, we were taken from pillar to post.  In our last two meetings, the Traditional Council didn’t show up. The Traditional Council was not taking me seriously, and that’s why I decided to go to court.”

Nthangeni obtained an eviction court order which now allows her to demolish houses that were illegally built on her land. According to her, residents were given notices to vacate in advance, which they still chose to ignore. She said they only targeted unoccupied and incomplete structures. Residents, however, told Limpopo Mirror that one house was demolished whilst the owner had gone out.

One of the residents, who didn’t want to be named, said that Nthangeni never consulted them about her intentions. “It never came with any notification to anyone here. I personally bought my stand in 2020 and I have been staying here. Nobody came and addressed us. So, I mean, who in their rightful minds will build a house when they know it is illegal?” he asked.

Residents said that they had paid between R20 000 and R40 000 for a piece of land. Some have spent all their investments to build their dream homes, and now all that hard work has been reduced to rubble.  “It was a dramatic day for me. They started demolishing the houses, saying that the protocols were not followed and stuff,” said another resident.

The Royal Council has apparently now applied for a court order to stop further demolitions. The senior traditional leader in the area, Thovhele Vho-Midiyavhathu Tshivhase said they cannot comment, as the matter is still in court.