THE DA in Ward 103 has demanded an urgent intervention to deal with alleged land invasions and sand mining in the area.

The demand was made during a public demonstration led by the party’s PR councillor Mxolisi Khubisa on Friday, April 24.

Khubisa said the SAPS, Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) should immediately implement “co-ordinated action” in Ward 103 “to halt the escalating lawlessness” in the area.

“For too long the communities of Ward 103, Cliffdale, and the Valley of a Thousand Hills in Botha’s Hill have been held hostage by criminal syndicates. On the 24th, local residents stood up to denounce the desecration of the Lala Kahle Cemetery, where many of our most respected and prominent leaders have been laid to rest. The invasion of this sacred site is a direct assault on the dignity of our community and cannot be tolerated,” said Khubisa.

The PR councillor added that the cemetery has allegedly “been targeted by invaders”, which he condemned.

“In Cliffdale, the situation has turned volatile as syndicates allegedly sell the same private plots to multiple buyers. The DA reports that some plots have been sold to more than two individuals, resulting in violent disputes between unsuspecting victims who now find themselves fighting for the same piece of land.

“The criminal enterprise extends beyond land theft. Illegal sand mining at multiple sites has spread across the ward, with hillsides in the Valley of a Thousand Hills being leveled for profit. Illegally extracted sand reportedly fetches up to R5000 per truckload. The leveling of hillsides has created unstable terrain, significantly increasing the risk of catastrophic landslides during heavy rains. Activists warn that the destruction of these habitats is driving the endangered Yellowish Amakosa Rocksitter butterfly toward extinction.

“The local crisis coincides with a major policy shift. Following the DA’s involvement in the Government of National Unity (GNU), the South African government adopted core DA led reforms in the draft Prevention of Illegal Eviction (PIE) Amendment Bill on 16 April 2026,” said Khubisa.

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According to the councillor, the party’s policy shift include:

• Organising or inciting land invasions is now a criminal offence, even if no money is exchanged.
• A push for the forfeiture of assets, including heavy machinery, acquired through illegal mining and land sales.
• Courts must now consider the financial means of occupiers, preventing those who can afford housing from jumping the queue.

“We need a co-ordinated task team on the ground to arrest the kingpins, not just the drivers. Ward 103 cannot be allowed to become a playground for syndicates while our sacred sites and natural resources are stripped bare,” said Khubisa.

The Highway Mail previously reported that the alleged illegal activities flagged in Ward 103, which include sand mining and land invasion, have raised concerns among some local environmentalists over the destruction of a bio-diverse habitat.

Additionally, on the allegations of the alleged fraudulent selling of land, the SAPS confirmed to this publication that a number of fraud and land invasion cases at the Hammarsdale SAPS, some which have been withdrawn, were opened, some dating to 2022.

The area’s ward councillor, Linda Mchunu, previously 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 Cogta.

The eThekwini Municipality had indicated that although one of the sites where the alleged illegal sand mining 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”.

@caxtonlocalmedia Calls have been made for the the police, the departments of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Mineral Resources and Energy to urgently take action against the alleged land invasions in parts of Ward 103 in eThekwini as well as illegal sand mining. #highwaymail #landinvasion ♬ original sound – caxtonlocalmedia

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