Illegal land invasions escalate putting North Coast development at risk

Fears are mounting that future development on the North Coast could be impacted if illegal land invasions are allowed to continue.

KwaDukuza municipality (KDM) said the illegal land invaders were impacting the municipality’s ability to execute development projects and deliver houses to identified, qualifying beneficiaries that have been waiting on the Housing Demand Database.

Challenges including budget cuts and a shortage of suitable land were cited by the Human Settlements business unit at the IDP presentation hosted at the iLembe Chamber of Commerce on April 30.

In recent months land invasions have escalated and new pegs used to demarcate “plots” for illegal occupation can be seen daily on the vacant municipal land along the P445 (the extension of Ballito Drive) bordering Shaka’s Head and Caledon Estate.

Building materials to set up shacks can also be seen on the cleared land.

Earlier this year land invaders moved onto Transnet-owned land next to the old station in Umhlali Village, despite railway authorities removing the illegal occupiers last September.

Ward 22 councillor Privi Makhan said last year the invaders had been served notices and private security and railway police demolished the erected structures but they had returned.

More invasions were imminent as vegetation had been recently cleared. Makhan called on authorities to secure their vacant land.

The number of invaders who have settled on municipal land across from Sheffield Manor, bordering an upmarket multi-million rand development, has increased dramatically since government declared a state of emergency last year.

Evictions were banned in South Africa for 9 weeks, after government placed the country under a strict Covid-19 lockdown in March.

KwaDukuza municipality demolished about 50 shacks in February 2019 but did not fence off the land and the invaders returned.

The land has been earmarked for a R200 million mixed-income housing project to be funded by the Human Settlements department.

However, the project ground to a halt as the illegal occupations prevented the conclusion of the pre-feasibility environmental study.

The municipality was granted an eviction order last November but the shack dwellers contested the order in the Durban High Court.

Informal dweller Thulani Khanyile, said in court papers on behalf of the shack dwellers that the municipality had not engaged meaningfully with the community in terms of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction From and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998 before instituting legal proceedings.

He argued the residents had a right to adequate housing and the municipality was obliged to tell the court what relief it could provide for the occupiers.

The matter was postponed.

According to KwaDukuza municipality’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) if housing delivery continues at its current pace, the backlog will increase dramatically.

With no access to basic services such as water, sanitation and electricity, ‘izinyoka’ is still the only way most shack-dwellers can get electricity – Zulu slang for illegal electricity connections.

Wires connecting to street lights and transformers to bring power to the shacks can be seen in Sheffield and Compensation.