“Nobody’s Paying Rent”: Young Man Visits the Largest White Squatter Camp in SA at Krugersdorp

• A documentary filmmaker showed a snippet of his visit to Pango Camp, which a resident called the biggest white squatter camp in South Africa
• Around 300 white South Africans currently live in the camp, paying only for electricity, while rent and water are not charged
• Many South Africans expressed deep sadness, and others raised questions about poverty, unemployment and government support

Documentary filmmaker Joshua Rubin posted a video on 30 May 2026 showing his visit inside Pango Camp in Munsieville, Krugersdorp. He interviewed a resident named Nicky, who gave an explanation of where they were and what life there looks like. Nicky told him:

"You are right now in a white squatter camp called Pango Camp, Munsieville. It's the biggest white squatter camp in South Africa. We call it the biggest because nobody's paying rent and nobody's paying water."

Nicky explained that the only thing they pay for is electricity. Almost 300 white South Africans live there at this moment. Most of them find jobs, and then move out.

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What is Pango Camp?

Pango Camp has been home to white South Africans living in poverty for over a decade. The camp sits in Munsieville, a predominantly black township in Krugersdorp, and was established after residents were evicted from Coronation Park, a public leisure park, by their local municipality in 2014.

Many of those who moved to Pango Camp came from backgrounds of generational poverty, with parents who worked low-income jobs during the apartheid era.

According to research conducted at WITS, the average monthly income in the camp sits at around R2,500. Most residents are either unemployed or working in low-skilled jobs, with government grants making up the main source of income for many families. Private donors and retail companies provide regular food and clothing donations.

Watch the Facebook clip below:

SA questions the Pango Camp scene

People responded with a mix of emotion and curiosity on Josh's Facebook page:

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@marilyn_kilian wrote:

"Would not be an area you call a slum if there was employment for desperate people. So sad."

@charlotte_de_lange said:

"I had the privilege to work with Nicky and the community of Munsieville in 2016. I've never met such sincere, happy and sad people that supported each other like them."

@suzette_van_loggenberg wrote:

"It is heartbreaking how many such camps of despair, neglect and poverty there are in SA. May the angels watch over all of them."

@anabelle_perreira joked:

"Well, at the rate we are billed for electricity, water and rates, maybe it's not a bad idea to start a camp. Anyone on board?"

@andrew_wahome noted:

"Most of them find jobs and move out."

@thersius_jones asked:

"How come they pay electricity? No informal settlement I know of pays electricity."

More on SA poverty and squatter camp communities

• Briefly News recently reported on a Gauteng woman who shared how she ended up living in a squatter camp.
• A woman visited her friend in a squatter camp for the first time and filmed everything she witnessed.
• A photographer showed vendors in a shack shopping centre in Nzhelele, Limpopo, setting up before sunrise.

Source: Briefly News