The South African Heritage Agency is fighting to preserve one of Gauteng’s last remaining mining villages. Van Ryn’s Deep, an 82-year-old village In Main Reef Road, Mackenzie Park, Benoni, stands on private land and is provisionally protected from demolition. Yet some of the houses are being dismantled, even after the agency had obtained a protection order for the property. Van Ryn’s Deep is also protected for two years following a successful application by the agency in July. By law, buildings older than 60 years cannot be altered or destroyed without permission from the heritage agency.
In September 34 families living in the houses were evicted following a successful Johannesburg High Court application for an eviction order brought by the owner of the land. The mining village was established for workers of the Kleinfontein mine around 1923. The land owner, Rafick Mohammed, bought the land 10 years ago and wants to develop it into a townhouse complex.