Leticia Nquma Has Been Warned She’ll Be Evicted Soon. But She’s Still Painting Her Shack Pink

In spite of the threat of eviction from her home in the informal settlement of Sinqawunqawu in Cape Town, Leticia Nquma is painting the wall of her shack pink.

• Dozens of families are living under the daily threat of eviction from their homes in the informal settlement of Sinqawunqawu, in Cape Town.
• The land is owned by Shoprite which has obtained a court order against the families.
• Residents have asked for a meeting with Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

Leticia Nquma knows she can be evicted at any moment from the two-roomed shack she shares with her sick mother, her four children and her husband in Sinqawunqawu in Mfuleni, Cape Town. The land is owned by Shoprite and the retail giant has already obtained a court order. But when GroundUp visited her on Tuesday, Nquma was painting the inside wall of her shack pink.

“I just want to make my room look good,’’ she said.

Nquma’s is one of dozens of families in Sinqawunqawu who are living in fear of imminent eviction.

People first moved onto the land in March 2019. The settlement grew during 2020 and 2021 when many people lost their jobs as a result of the covid lockdowns. Community leaders say today there are 480 families living there, in a settlement so dense that in some places it is impossible to walk between the shacks.

Last year, residents were served with a court order, telling them to leave the site on 3 October or be evicted on 10 October.

Community leader Nomonde Manya said Law Enforcement officers, police and the Red Ants had not been back since October 10, when residents blocked their eviction, burning tyres and protesting.

But everyone was afraid, she said. ‘’We panic at the sight of the police because we were told we could be evicted anytime.’’

Nquma’s husband works as a truck driver for a Blackheath company. One of her children attends a crèche nearby and another is at Tsitsa Primary School in Mfuleni.

‘’If Shoprite removes me from here, I will never have money to transport them to school because it’s only my husband who works,’’ she said.

Nquma said her mother is being treated for diabetes, a heart condition and high blood pressure at Groote Schuur. “I don’t know where I will accommodate my mother and my pregnant daughter if I get evicted,’’ she said.

Nquma said she settled in Sinqawunqawu after renting rooms in Philippi and Mfuleni. “When my family became bigger, I struggled to pay rent and survive on my husband’s salary,’’ she said. “I settled here so I could have my own place.’’

Soon after she moved in, she says, her shack was demolished and her building materials confiscated. But the family rebuilt the shack.

‘’It breaks my heart to hear that Shoprite wants to remove us, because it was not easy to finally settle here,’’ said Nquma.

Nowanisi Jubisa lives with her daughter Anathi (pictured) and seven grandchildren.

Pensioner Nowanisi Jubisa lives with her sick daughter and seven grandchildren. ‘’Worry keeps me awake at night because I no longer have a place in the Eastern Cape,” she said. She has no money to rent premises as her grandchildren live on her old age grant, she said.

“My chest becomes tight when people mention our removal.’’ said Jubisa, who visits a doctor twice a week to relieve a chest problem.

‘’My grandchildren want to stay here until they finish school, get jobs and buy their own houses. The government should help us and not abandon us to Shoprite,’’ she said.

Last week, residents marched to the civic centre to submit a memo to Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis. They asking for a meeting and for the suspension of the eviction process.

Most of the shack dwellers don’t work and live on government grants, said Manya. ‘’Some of us lost our jobs during the covid pandemic and never got them back again.”

Shoprite declined to comment in response to our questions.

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