Fifteen indigent members of the Vele family at Maniini, near Thohoyandou, claim that the local civic association has sold their stand without their knowledge. As a result, they have been told to vacate their three-roomed house which they have occupied from 1995. They vowed they will never move because they have spent a lot of money in building their house.

“We will never move. Come rain or sunshine. These are corrupt leaders whose unbecoming leadership needs to be exposed. We have spent a lot of money in building our house and we are now told to move out without valid reasons. We believe they have sold our stand to make way for someone else, as is happening on a daily basis in this village. None of our family members is employed and where do they think we will get money to build another house somewhere? Why must I move because the stand belongs to me? I even paid the nduvho at the headman’s kraal and he even registered the site in my name. I think they are doing this to me because I am poor and they believe nobody will come to my rescue,” said the angry family member, Munzhedzi (57), during an emotional interview.

Other members of the family include Munzhedzi’s husband, Joseph (68) and Munzhedzi’s disabled uncle Andries (82), Munzhedzi’s kids and grandchildren who are all still at school.

Munzhedzi says the problem started earlier this year when a member of the Maniini Civic Association came to her stand with other unknown people.

“He started moving around the site while pointing around my yard. After some time, I was told that I needed to move somewhere else without being given valid reasons. I later got the information that my site had been sold to someone else who would move in as soon as I vacated it. Why did they let me spend lots of money while they knew that they would move me after some time? I am prepared to go to the highest authority in this land to have my problem addressed…”

The Secretary of the Maniini Civic Association, Tshililo Muditambi, refuted Munzhedzi’s claims and said the problem affects countless families who need to move because of land restructuring in the village. He said people were warned to build temporary structures until the village survey had been completed.

“After mapping out the village, it was established that the Vele family had built their house in the street and they needed to move out to make way for the construction of the street. The family members also attended the community meeting where they agreed to our resolution and filled out a form to show that they had only been given a temporary site to stay. We do not understand why the family built a modern structure while they knew that they were only staying there temporarily…”

Muditambi said everyone in the village was aware of the public land survey which was affecting many families. “We agreed that each of the affected families would be given an alternative site to stay. But because we are human, we felt sorry for the Vele family and even went to the extent of allocating them two alternative sites because their family is big. We do not know what they are complaining about because they know the resolutions of the community…”