The City of Johannesburg has denied evicting Lenasia residents‚ saying the incident that is believed to have led to the death of two people on Friday was a shack demolition. Spokesman Luyanda Mfeka said “red ants” security guards were called in at the request of the Sherriff of the High Court after the municipality obtained a court order to prevent residents from erecting shacks illegally. Mfeka said the operation was not an eviction‚ but rather that “unoccupied structures” were torn down in line with the court order. Tensions rose during the demolition and two people were killed. Community members have blamed the death on the red ants and police. However‚ Mfeka said at least one of the deaths may not be linked to the shack demolition. He was not aware of the second death. “During that process it was discovered that a person was shot. We believe it is unrelated to the operation‚” he said. Explaining the background to the incident‚ Mfeka said that the land in question had a total of ...
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