A group of desperate Welkom residents who have recently been evicted by a church from an informal settlement theyve been residing in since 2016, say they have nowhere to go.
The residents are requesting the Matjhabeng Municipality to provide them with formalised sites, after the Forward in Faith Church structure was built on the land.
The church has instructed the affected households to relocate as they were invading their private property.
Residents are seeking clarity over being removed from this informal settlement without being provided with an alternative piece of land.
There was a church problem, they told us the land belongs to them, its private property. So, then there was an argument between us and them that if the land is yours, can you give us proof, till this moment, theyve never provided such proof. Its been close to eight years since weve been staying here and were not happy that the church has removed us, while we didnt even know where we would be staying. We were told to move because the land belongs to the church and we asked to at least be provided with a formalised land and they said we should find ourselves vacant land to occupy. We did find land to place our shacks and now when it rains, the shacks get flooded and our belongings get damaged by the water, we really dont know what to do.
