For years, two sisters lived in an Orlando East house they had come to with their aunt. Their beds, their couch and their clothes were carried out onto the grass — and the eviction, painfully, was lawful.
On Wednesday the 16th September, by midday, everything two sisters owned was sitting on the pavement in Orlando East. A mattress propped against a couch. A wooden chest. A television balanced on a cushion. Bags of clothing stacked on the grass beside a public walkway, with neighbours standing nearby, watching, unsure what to do.
The two women had lived in that house for many years. They first came to it with their aunt, who had married into the family that owned the property. In the way that many Soweto households come together, the aunt brought her nieces with her, and the house became theirs too — the address where they slept, cooked, raised themselves into adulthood, and were known by the neighbours as part of the street.
Their aunt has since passed away. So has her husband. And with both of them gone, the sisters simply stayed on, in the only home they had known for most of their adult lives.
That ended when the daughter of the property’s owner came forward to claim the house.
Nowhere To Go
When the eviction came, the sisters turned to Orlando East Residents Organisation Against Property Hijacking, the community organisation that has helped several Soweto families fight to keep their homes.
This time, there was nothing the organisation could do. After looking into the case, it found that the sisters’ names did not appear anywhere on the property’s official documents — and that the daughter claiming the house appeared to be a rightful beneficiary. The eviction, however hard to watch, was lawful.
So the removal went ahead. Furniture was carried out piece by piece and left along the walkway. Bedding, a television, boards and doors stacked in the open. The sisters stood among their own belongings with nowhere to take them.
They are poor, and they have nowhere else to go. Whatever the paperwork says, they have lost the only home they have known for years — and they lost it in a single morning, in full view of the neighbours who have known them all along.
It is a scene that plays out more often than most Soweto residents realise. A relative takes someone in. Years pass. Children grow up at that address. Then the person who brought them there dies, and the arrangement that everyone understood — but no one ever wrote down — quietly stops protecting anybody.
A Warning For Other Residents
Mr Enoch Ndlovu, who leads Orlando East Residents Organisation Against Property Hijacking, says cases like this one are the hardest — because by the time a family reaches out, there is often nothing left to be done.
“Residents must check their status in the homes they are living in. Don’t wait until there is a problem — come to us early, because when the eviction is already at your door, it is too late for us to help you.”
— Enoch Ndlovu, Orlando East Residents Organisation Against Property Hijacking
The organisation is urging anyone living in a home they do not personally own — with an aunt, a parent, a sibling, or any other relative — to find out early whose name is on the title deed, and to keep proof of any arrangement they have with the homeowner. Knowing where you stand while there is still time is what makes it possible to act.
How To Help
The two sisters are now without a home. Anyone able to offer assistance — accommodation, furniture, or support of any kind — can reach Orlando East Residents Organisation Against Property Hijacking, which is in contact with the family. Residents who are unsure of their own standing in the home they live in can contact the organisation for guidance.
PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST PROPERTY HIJACKING IN SOWETO
*Attend your ward community meetings. The information shared at these meetings can save your home.
*Keep your original Title Deed in a safe and secure place at all times.
*Check your property registration regularly at the Deeds Office: deeds.gov.za
*A legal eviction can only be carried out with a valid court order. No court order — no eviction.
*Contact the Orlando East Residents Organisation Against Property Hijacking organisation immediately if you suspect fraud.
CONTACT ORLANDO EAST RESIDENTS ORGANISATION AGAINST PROPERTY HIJACKING
Mr. Enoch Ndlovu : 083 249 3065
Miss Thuli Manyoni : 073 690 7913
Contact Loxion Express
WhatsApp: 081 79 777 96 | 066 130 9086
Email: admin@loxionexpress.co.za
