By Justice Mokotedi

"Private" Capital has for many years dictated how the lives of the working class should be like; it impounds people`s ability to survive while ensuring that they are left with the option of only bowing before it. Below in the form of an interview we present a story; an example of the victims of the brutal banking system that has not only taken away a house of a working class man, but the home of his family along with his life.

Mr Steven Ngoepe (72) resides at Phiri Section in Soweto.

Justice: Mr Ngoepe please tell us what happened to your house?

Mr Ngoepe: It was in 2003 when a girl came to my house and found both me and my wife having lunch. The girl claimed to have bought my house; she said she bought it from ABSA. When I interrogated the merits of her story, she then changed the bank and said she bought the house from Standard Bank.

Justice: What became your immediate reaction to the matter?

Mr Ngoepe: I told her to go away because I know nothing about the bank as I have never borrowed any money at any bank. I became extremely perplexed about her claim.

Justice: What happened next sir?

Mr Ngoepe: Two weeks went by and then she came back again. This time around she was with her husband. By the grace of God, it happened that her husband knows me and thus he requested the lady to refrain from proceeding with her claim and departed immediately. After two weeks from the previous encounter she came with her lawyer; from this point I then discovered her real name (which was revealed during the interview). Her lawyer equally did not resolve on anything concrete; he was just rhetorical and said they will come back.

In 2007 I got arrested together with my wife. We paid a bail for R500 and they released us. We kept attending the Protea Magistrate Court, and our case was always postponed until the 29th July 2009 when I got sentenced to serve six months in prison with a charge of trespassing in my own house.

This encounter was very sad for me because I lived in that house from 1969 as the first occupant, hence I still do not understand how it can be that I trespassed in my own house.

I was evicted. At my age there is nothing much that I can do; all my trust is with the Cluster Committee now, my only wish is to realize justice against those who have wronged me. It is really not fair that I lost everything I worked hard for, my children do not have a home, my furniture was vandalized and my dignity was taken away from me; it is really not fair.

Justice: Thank you very much for your time sir, we will do whatever we can to assist you with your problems.

Conclusion:

The story of Mr Ngoepe, a relative to a Judge, is a clear indication on how the financial sector operates, working with unscrupulous elements. Mr Ngoepe is one amongst many residents who have lost their houses. This interview was conducted on 15th May 2014 in Johannesburg, at the Central Methodist Church. SACP Media and Information Department was invited to attend a meeting at the Church, where people who have been evicted from their houses and flats gather on Thursdays to reflect on the steps that they need to take.

The church is also used as the office of the Cluster Committee which has been assembled by the victims to fight their cause. Hundreds of participants take part in these meetings from across Gauteng Province fighting to get back their houses. Listening to their story it is clear that there is possibly a highly connected syndicate with links with some in positions of authority and banks operating in Gauteng Province but based in Johannesburg illicitly selling other people`s houses and flats and evicting them. One participant`s house was reportedly sold at R10 only. How this is done only the unscrupulous world knows. The story is shocking. Some victims are told they are dead and they are evicted from their houses, which, as part of their estates, are then given to unknown beneficiaries. This points to the presence and involvement of corrupt elements in the courts system.

One of the things that are clear is that there needs to be a forensic investigation starting in Johannesburg on how come did some of the co-operative housing properties promoted by policies pioneered by former SACP General Secretary Joe Slovo as Housing Minister got to be sold. This investigation must also go beyond and cover how other buildings in the Johannesburg CBD are being sold for renewal. There needs to be a thorough process of interrogation into the phenomena. The investigation must include the hijacking of buildings.

Throughout Gauteng Province, and perhaps in all provinces, a register of municipal properties is required where this is not yet in place, but where it is in place updates are required. As things stand there appears to be massive corruption involving municipal property with, for example houses being leased for 99 years to some without any transparent process if not being sold outright at petty cash price levels. We need forensic investigations into municipal property across the country, including what is happening to abandoned property where owners owe municipalities in rates and services more than the value of those properties.

Other cases include Transnet employees who have been dismissed - and some unfairly - or retrenched with their pension or provident funds not given to them if not in part but withheld for Transnet houses they have been living in. Some victims have reported that their houses were later sold via banks and they were evicted.

Community members affected by evictions have come together and one of the steps they are now taking is what they call class action against the banks - they also refer to themselves as the Class Action Movement. They have established a legal team to help them and opened a trust account to meet legal costs. They have also agreed to embark on fund-raising.

Addressing the meeting, Alex Mashilo, Deputy National Secretary of the YCLSA said whilst legation action is the right thing to do, the battle must also go beyond legal intervention. He said the struggle must be taken to the streets as well (After reading the first publication of this article, a concerned COSATU official proposed another intervention, i.e. legislative intervention with new restrictions on the sale of occupied residential property). Both the YCLSA and SACP in Gauteng and Linda Jabane Districts have been involved in the fight against evictions. Mashilo said this had to be strengthened and that more other organizations must come on board. He said he will table the matter his political overview in the next Gauteng ANCYL Provincial Task Team meeting as the Convener for the league to come on board and join this just fight.

The SACP`s Financial Sector Transformation Campaign is a critical political action that needs to be intensified to among others to deal with the property question including the problems of unscrupulous property sales and evictions. This must be broadened to include a new chapter on fighting crime and corruption in the financial sector.

Justice Mokotedi is a student at the University of the Witwatersrand and Intern at the SACP Head Office based in the Media and Information Department