THE alleged illegal activities flagged in Ward 103, which include sandmining and alleged land invasion, have raised concerns among some local environmentalists over the destruction of a bio-diverse habitat.

The Highway Mail this week reported about these activities, which allegedly include the fraudulent selling of land.

This has led to the opening of a number of fraud and land invasion cases at the Hammarsdale SAPS, some which have been withdrawn.

KZN SAPS spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Magwaza, confirmed these cases, some dating to 2022.

In November last year, said Magwaza, a 48-year-old suspect was arrested for alleged land invasion “following an incident in which a man driving a TLB was found digging a private property at Cliffdale”.

“The suspect appeared before the Hammarsdale Magistrate’s Court on 10 November 2025,” said Magwaza.

In April 2025, cases of land invasion, intimidation, trespassing and malicious damage to property were opened for investigation at Hammarsdale SAPS, said Magwaza.

“A 48-year-old suspect was arrested. The incident occurred at Cliffdale on 13 April 2025. The matter was later filed undetected,” said Magwaza.

Also read: Illegal activities flagged in Ward 103

Magwaza also confirmed that the Hammarsdale SAPS are investigating a case of fraud after a 37-year-old complainant alleged that portions of their land in Cliffdale were being sold by a suspect known to them. This case, he added, was reported in October 2024.

Cases of fraud and land invasion were also opened at the Hammarsdale SAPS in May 2022, Magwaza confirmed.

“A 48-year-old suspect was arrested. The incident occurred at Cliffdale on 24 May 2022. He appeared before the Hammarsdale Magistrates Court and the matter was later withdrawn,” said Magwaza.

The area’s ward councillor, Linda Mchunu, told the Highway Mail that the issues of alleged land invasion and the fraudulent selling of land were also being handled by the KZN Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta). The department had not responded to a media enquiry at the time of publishing.

Meanwhile, Steve Woodhall from Butterfly Gear said a certain species of butterfly in the area has been endangered due to these activities.

“The red list butterfly species within this area has been severely degraded and effectively destroyed as a direct consequence of the ongoing illegal land invasions and associated earthmoving activities. This constitutes a significant and potentially irreparable loss of biodiversity,” said Woodhall, who called for a halt of the “ongoing environmental destruction” and for the implementation of “measures to rehabilitate and restore” local “environmental assets”.

According to Woodhall, local populations of the endangered Yellowish Amakosa Rocksitter butterfly have decreased.

In its previous response, the eThekwini Municipality indicated that though one of the sites where the alleged illegal sandmining is being carried out falls within the Durban Metropolitan Open Space System (D’MOSS), it “is privately-owned, and therefore the municipality does not have the legal mandate to enforce mining compliance”.

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