Occupants to be moved from Mushroom Farm soon

A plan of action to move illegal land invaders from vacant land in Centurion was presented to residents during a public mayoral meeting held virtually on Thursday.

The mayor, as well as metro officials, addressed Doornkloof residents after they had demanded action in respect of the metro’s obligation to, among others, provide alternative accommodation for the occupants of Mushroom Farm in West Street, which formed part of an eviction order obtained by the private owner of the land.

“No less than 1 440 residents signed a petition in 2019,” said Yvette Uys, petition representative for the community, who has been driving the initiative to have the occupants removed, for the past three years.

“We are pleased with the outcome of the meeting, but will be following relocation milestones as indicated by the city carefully,” Uys said.

Tony Petricevic, director of Turnover Trading which owns the land, said he has had an uphill battle in court to obtain the eviction order.

“From what I understand, these illegal occupants had been staying on the river banks belonging to the metro. After the metro had moved them, they moved back to our land,” he said.

According to Petricevic he has had many meetings with the metro to find a solution to no avail, which left him no option but to take legal action in 2017.

“We obtained an eviction order, however, Lawyers for Human Rights appealed to the constitutional court on behalf of the occupants.

“The appeal was dismissed and the eviction order confirmed last year, however, on condition that the metro provides alternative accommodation soon after level three of the Covid-regulations was reached. That was August last year, yet nothing materialised.”

Louise du Plessis, attorney of record on the matter at the Lawyers for Human Rights, said the constitutional court did not accept their argument in this matter.

“Our main concern was that the alternative accommodation the metro offered at Sutherland Ridge was too far away from the occupants’ workplace. Also, they have not adhered to all the requirements at the site as was prescribed by the court.

“Some of the residents recycle and we based our argument on the constitutional right to work and the right to food. There are nine groups of recyclers in Centurion, and they are area-bound. If these occupants move too far away from the area they work in, they lose their income.”

DA ward 65 councillor Gert Visser, said land invasion in the area started in 2006, when the municipal land south of the Hennops river next to Mushroom Farm, was invaded.

“They lived informally and out of public sight on the banks of the river. After the massive floods of 2019 and the subsequent loss of life among the occupants, the metro moved them. After four days, they settled on the private vacant land further away from the river.”

Tshwane mayor Randall Williams said during the meeting that residents had a lot of expectations from local government. “We face huge problems such as unemployment, homelessness, undocumented foreigners, and other political parties encouraging land invasion.

“Even the court now places these responsibilities on local government’s shoulders. Various departments are involved and we are not responsible for housing, national and provincial government have those mandates. And in terms of national legislation we may not provide housing to foreign nationals as it will be declared unauthorised,” Williams said.

“If our municipality must provide housing, we must take money from somewhere else such as operational maintenance which includes basic services,” Williams said.

Williams placed great emphasis on the private owner’s duty to protect his land from illegal invaders and report trespassing to the police “since the government cannot reward illegal actions such as land invasion, with houses”.

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“Unfortunately, we live in a dysfunctional country. I did everything I could to protect my land. The problem is that the authorities don’t always respond to complaints of trespassing,” Petricevic said.

“If all goes well, shelter and accommodation will be made available for the occupants of Mushroom Farm at the city’s cost for six months soonest, per the realistic and sustainable plan that we presented.

“I am looking forward to the cleaning of the area to the benefit of all concerned,” Visser said.

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