It’s been a long, dark road for the people of Thembelihle Village, where the simple flip of a light switch has been a foreign concept since 2022. While Tshwane officials are busy demanding rent payments to keep the lights on, the tenants say they’ve been left in the dark for years despite their best attempts to pay for the power they use.
The drama started unfolding in the heart of Pretoria’s social housing scene, where residents are now scrambling for a sit-down with Aaron Maluleka. He is the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Human Settlements, and he’s been firm about the rules: pay up, or pack up. He insists that consistent payments are the only way to keep these buildings standing and maintained.
Mary Tati, speaking for the local residents' association, says they aren't trying to dodge their responsibilities. They just want a fair shake. The residents are caught in a classic case of finger-pointing, claiming their efforts to engage Yeast City Housing, the private non-profit entity managing the village, have hit a brick wall for years.
We don't disagree with paying rent, but we expect services to be given to us.
Things took a sour turn when the residents realized the company they were paying for bulk electricity, Voltano, wasn't passing the money on to the municipality. It’s a messy web of financial responsibility that has left families living in a complex launched in 2018 with absolutely no power. The building was designed to offer relief to those earning between R11,301 and R22,000, but it has become a pressure cooker instead.
The crumbling of a housing dream
When the lights went out, the trust followed. The financial strain hit a breaking point, leading to the entire property being placed under business rescue. This legal process is meant to save a struggling company, but for the tenants, it has felt more like a slow-motion eviction notice. The figures are staggering, with total arrears ballooning toward the R60 million mark.
The situation turned physical on March 10, 2026, when around 200 residents were booted from their units in a move the association labels as illegal. Since then, the remaining tenants have been looking over their shoulders, waiting for the sheriff to knock. The association has even had to start a fundraising drive just to keep their legal team afloat as they fight the eviction orders in the High Court.
There’s a clear divide in the narrative here. On one side, the city feels the financial pressure of maintaining vast municipal rental stock, including hostels and high-rise apartments. On the other side, families who thought they had finally secured a dignified home are now living in fear of being tossed onto the street. The MMC promised a follow-up meeting after an initial chat last year, but residents say those dates keep shifting like sand in the wind.
The municipality hasn't just stood by; records show they have often been in the corner of those pushing for evictions. For a project meant to empower the working class, it’s a tragic irony that the legal costs of fighting for a home are now competing with the rent money that is supposedly the key to staying. With 348 more tenants currently on the chopping block, the next few weeks are critical for the survival of the community. They continue to await a definitive resolution to these housing disputes.