Alex residents thrown out of illegal shipping containers

By Everson Luhanga 

Dozens of residents in Alexandra have been evicted from the shipping containers they had been living in illegally. 

After many warnings, police from the South African Police Service, the Johannesburg Metro Police Department, and a private security company carried out the eviction early on Wednesday.

Police officers and security guards broke into the containers, throwing out people’s belongings, including mattresses and food. 

The shocked and angry residents sang and chanted in protest. 

They accused the officials of killing Moshe Mphahlele, an EFF councillor, last month when he tried to stop an earlier eviction.

Moshe was remembered as a man who always fought for the rights of the poor. 

One resident, Lizzy Mphako, said they would keep fighting. “Even if they arrest all of us, we will come back. Maybe they will kill us like they did with Mphahlele,” she said.

Several people were arrested during the operation and taken to Bramley police station. 

In response, residents protested by burning tyres, but police quickly stopped them. Authorities remain in the area, patrolling the streets to keep the situation under control.

This is not the first time these residents have been evicted. 

In February, over 50 families were removed from the same containers, and some set up makeshift homes outside the site.

Pictured above: Evicted residents of Marlboro residential containers.

Source: Everson Luhanga