The structures were demolished by the City of Mbombela Local Municipality (CMLM) on Thursday.

Community members blockaded the road with burning tyres and branches in protest.

CMLM spokesman, Joseph Ngala said the area is earmarked for the development of Tekwane’s urban hub.

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Last year people started allocating land among themselves and named it Nomzamo Park.

The municipality obtained a court order to stop construction on the land. Construction did not stop, and the municipality approached the court again.

“We took the matter to court, followed the due process and we were finally granted an order to demolish. We told them before we went to demolish the structures and they ignored us,” Ngala said.

The people had previously told Lowvelder that their aim is to be the first group to expropriate land without compensation from the municipality.

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According to one of the residents, they were promised RDP houses.

“They are moving us out of this area after we have invested so much in it,” she said yesterday. “They must provide us with an alternative area, since we have nowhere to go,” she said.

The residents also claimed that the municipality had a meeting with them on March 19, and they said they will visit the area on April 12, 13 and 14 so that they can do an inspection to compile a report.

“To our surprise, they then got a court order stating that we must move out in 48 hours. We got it on Tuesday and then this morning they came to remove us,” said another resident.

Ngala denied the allegations of an inspection. CMLM appealed to communities not to invade land illegally as it would lead to the structures being demolished.