Kriel — Seriti has dismissed allegations that former employees of the Kriel Colliery, who were evicted from their homes, were deceived into believing the residences were rightfully theirs.
This follows Seriti’s eviction carried out on 26 November 2025.
Affected residents told the publication that deductions had been made from their salaries during their tenure, leading them to feel that they would ultimately gain ownership of the properties.
In total, 60 residents were evicted, with residents claiming the process was carried out without a valid eviction order.
“Allegations that former Kriel Colliery employees were paying toward ownership of these houses through wage deductions are untrue,” Seriti said in a statement. “No historical Anglo-era wage-deduction or rent-to-buy arrangements applied to these properties, and no such obligations were transferred to Seriti.”
Seriti went on to mention that Eskom had designated specific houses for the employees of the Kriel mine, which were previously allocated to Anglo American. After Seriti took over the Kriel Colliery mining operations from Anglo American in 2018, they maintained this arrangement.
“Some of these houses are still occupied by current Kriel employees. However, some have been occupied by ex-employees whose services with the mine had been terminated for various reasons (retirement, dismissal, resignation, etc.),” the statement said.
“Some of these former employees did not vacate the properties following termination of their employment, as required by the company’s terms and conditions. They were notified on numerous occasions to vacate the properties, but some failed to do so. Seriti said it could no longer carry the cost of maintaining the 60 households.
The cost has included payment to the municipality for water and other basic services. Shortly after Seriti’s acquisition, disputes over the illegal occupation of these houses escalated, and litigation began in early 2020, forming the basis of the subsequent court actions.”
In 2022, the Mpumalanga High Court delivered an eviction order targeting the residents of specific homes. Seriti stated that following this decision, they informed the occupants about the court’s ruling. However, the occupants, represented by Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), challenged the ruling through an appeal.
In late 2024, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) denied the request to appeal, standing by the High Court’s decision. However, the SCA did clarify that the Emalahleni Local Municipality was responsible for arranging temporary housing for those households lacking occupancy rights.
In January 2025, Seriti said it began discussions with the municipality to prepare for implementing the eviction order. By August 2025, correspondence between Seriti’s legal team and LHR confirmed a mutually agreed-upon notice period that Seriti would provide prior to the eviction taking place.
Formal notice of the intended evictions was conveyed to the occupants through their legal representatives and the Sheriff of the High Court.
“Seriti was unable to engage directly with the residents as it is legally permitted to communicate only through their legal representatives. Importantly, throughout the long litigation history of this matter, the illegal occupants did not approach Seriti in an attempt to acquire the properties,” said the statement.
“On 26 November 2025, the Sheriff of the High Court executed the evictions in accordance with the court order. Occupants of 60 unlawfully occupied residences were removed,” Seriti said.
Seriti added that, in line with the SCA judgment, the Emalahleni Local Municipality is responsible for assessing and providing temporary alternative accommodation to qualifying households. “The municipality determined that 22 of the 60 households qualified for this assistance. We do not know the criteria used by the municipality to determine qualification,” Seriti said.
The Emalahleni Local Municipality did not respond to our media enquiry sent on 27 November 2025.
