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The Department of Human Settlements in Ekurhuleni says a loss of revenue at its low-cost housing complexes has resulted in the mass evictions of residents from its units.
Earlier this week, the City of Ekurhuleni obtained a court order to evict non-paying residents who were illegally occupying property at the Pharoe Park flats in Germiston, East of Johannesburg.
This triggered violent protests in the area, resulting in an arson attack on the Home Affairs Department building.
MMC for Human Settlements in the city, Kgopelo Hollo says evictions will continue across the city.
“Overall, we are collecting about 25% of all our complexes, which amounts to about 1500 units. So Chris Hani is the only complex that is compliant.
“We collect about 80-90%, which we are happy with, but the three of the other complexes, including Pharoe Park its problems – hence we have resulted in getting an eviction order to ensure that we get these housing units, which are social housing units back to normal, so that we can generate revenue out of them,” Hollo explains.
Zingisazi Nkamana, CEO of the Ekurhuleni Housing Company, says Pharoe Park has about 440 units, but only 17 tenants have been making their payments consistently. The rest of the units have been hijacked. He adds that all unlawful occupants were informed about the steps being… pic.twitter.com/n7OBCFMAHL
— SABC News (@SABCNews) August 12, 2025
