Ekurhuleni can't allow tenants to occupy units without payment, says Human Settlements MMC
On Monday, residents occupying a block of flats in Pharoe Park in Germiston were evicted for failure to make rental payments, leading to demonstrations.
Residents occupying a block of apartments in the Germiston CBD were evicted on Tuesday, 13/08/2025, for allegedly failing to pay rent. Picture: Thandoluhle Ngcobo/ EWN
JOHANNESBURG - The Human Settlements MMC in Ekurhuleni, Kgopelo Holo, said the city cannot allow tenants to occupy units without any records of legal payments.
On Monday, residents occupying a block of flats in Pharoe Park in Germiston were evicted for failure to make rental payments, leading to demonstrations.
Police are still patrolling the area after tensions flared when some protesting residents burned a two-storey home affairs building.
The officers are monitoring the situation, as some tenants will have their belongings out on the street with nowhere to go.
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Some residents claimed they were being wrongfully evicted because their payments were overdue, while others argued that they were not informed about the city's court order to remove them for not paying rent to the city.
However, Hollo said the municipality has no records of these payments, citing that as a result, the city has lost millions in lost revenue.
"We cannot, it's not possible legally, it's not sound that you can come into the units illegally so, worse you pay someone else's home we don't know as the city. We don't have the records of these illegal occupants."
Hollo added that instead of paying the city, the tenants make payments to landlords who avoid paying rates.
"They are paying someone else of who as officials and the law enforcement agencies, we are saying show us those people so we can go and assist you to recover those monies. They don't want to disclose those people."