BLOEMFONTEIN – The absence of basic infrastructure at a newly established residential settlement near Lourie Park in Bloemfontein is of secondary concern to many residents. What matters most is securing a permanent site they can call home. Infrastructure, including water and sewage pipelines, electricity and roads, is yet to be constructed.

Residents began occupying sites on Saturday following the completion of an allocation and verification process by the Mangaung Metro Municipality, after a favourable judgment handed down by the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein on Friday. The judgment was against an application brought by the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mangaung.

However, before this outcome, occupiers faced the threat of forced eviction by the Mangaung Metro in March 2024. The Metro applied for a court order and thereafter enlisted the services of the Red Ants — a private security, policing and law enforcement outfit — which conducted multiple evictions of illegal land occupiers and, most notably, a large-scale demolition of shacks in the Brandkop area. The occupiers have since made peace with Mangaung authorities, buoyed by the favourable High Court judgment, amid what had been a period of significant political and legal disputes.

For several people desperate for residential sites, the move represents a step toward dignity after years in informal settlements and rented accommodation with no guarantee of their future. Among those expressing delight at the move are Steve Macala, his wife Keneilwe, Busisiwe Mvula and Pogisho Nosi. They are among the fortunate few who were permitted to remain in the Mountain View area while the legal battle was pending.

The construction of shack dwellings and toilets is in full swing. The sound of hammers can be heard from a distance when driving along the R706, the regional route connecting Bloemfontein and Jagersfontein.

“Relocating to a site we know is rightly ours is a big relief. We are hopeful that our lives will improve. We have rented for years and that did not bring peace of mind at all,” said Macala.

Nosi is starting a new chapter with his family of four — a wife and three children — while Mvula, a single mother, moves with her two children. Their faces were beaming with joy.

Nosi relocated from an informal settlement in Turflaagte, where he had been squatting for over ten years. “I now have a permanent place for my family and that is significant. As for the immediate challenges of unavailable water, electricity and roads, we are going to cope — we survived such conditions over the years at the previous informal settlement,” said Nosi, who is unemployed. He added that he was retrenched in 2020 owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mvula, who makes a living running a hair salon, said she was overjoyed at finally having a place of her own. “I am unable to express how happy I am with this process unfolding — to have one burden removed. This represents a move toward a bright future,” she said.

For now, scores of residents collect water from a municipal clinic using wheelbarrows, rely on gas cylinders for cooking and use solar lights for electricity.