28 November 2011

SOHCO and the Private Destruction of the Right to Public Housing

Four weeks ago 77 people were evicted from the Valley View flats in Hillary. These flats are owned by SOHCO which is a social housing company. Social housing was set up to cover those who don’t qualify for RDP houses but are too poor to qualify for bonds. It is called a ‘public private partnership’. But the private side of this arrangement has taken over the public side. Tenants are being exploited by paying rentals that will, over their lives, be worth much more than the value of the flats and those that are falling behind are being evicted. They remain unable to get RDP houses and unable to get housing through the market and are therefore being excluded from access to housing. Social housing is therefore failing and it will continue to fail until the alliance between the government and private investors looking to make private profit is abandoned and replaced with an alliance between the government and co-operatives of people needing housing.

On Saturday night 50 of the evicted people returned to the flats to occupy them. The police succeeded in forcing them out again. They were repulsed again on Sunday night. They evicted Hillary residents have now decided to go and occupy SOHCO at their offices in 490 Jan Smut Highway (Mayville) on 29 November 2011 at 13:00pm

Comrades visiting Durban for the COP 17 conference are welcome to join the occupation.

Contact Details:

S’fiso: 079 818 1987
Nomfundo: 082 541 0855