Thousands of shacks demolished by metro
Tshwane metro will not tolerate the illegal invasion of land in the metro area and will continue to use law enforcement agencies to stop land grabbing and the erection of structures on the land.
More than 2 620 structures erected by land grabbers and invaders have been demolished by Tshwane metro in December and January and no new illegal shacks will be tolerated, Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa warned on Wednesday.
The majority of land grabs was instigated by Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party in an attempt to create a rift between the community and its political leadership, said Ramokgopa.
Addressing the metro’s first media briefing for the year in Centurion on Wednesday, he said that the recent protests over land occupation and the illegal invading of land in and around Tshwane were just early election gimmicks by the EFF.
He said the EFF knew exactly which parcels of land the metro had earmarked for development and targeted those areas specifically with several illegal occupiers being “imported” from other parts of the country.
According to Tshwane MMC for Housing and Human Settlements, Joshua Ngonyama, who also addressed the briefing, the metro, with the assistance of the police and other law enforcement agencies, had demolished 2 629 illegally built structures since December last year until 20 January.
He said in Malemaville in Mamelodi, 120 structures were raised and in Stoffelpark, also in Mamelodi, 50 were taken down.
Other structures demolished were 258 in Block Y, 120 in Dali Mpofu and 685 on the Bagatla Makua Tribe land, all in Soshanguve, 1300 In Sokhulumi near Bronhkorstspruit, 30 in Donkerhoek, 34 at Mooiplaas, 17 in Atteridgeville and 15 in Olivenhoutbosch.
He stressed that the metro had already obtained a blanket court interdict applicable to all unoccupied Tshwane land and also to a number of land parcels mentioned specifically in the court order.
“We will continue to use the law enforcement agencies to protect Tshwane from anarchy,” Ngonyama said.
Ramokgopa said that metro-owned land was being targeted by the land grabbers who were intent on derailing the work the municipality was doing to supply housing for all its citizens.
“These land invaders play on the emotions of the poor and homeless and their actions inevitably lead to violence and lawlessness,” Ramokgopa said, echoing Ngonyama’s warning that the metro would continue to demolish shacks and evict land grabbers.
It was stressed that those who illegally invade land or housing meant for others, will not be given any land by the metro.
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