Metro crushes more land invasions
Metro police fight more land invasions in Mamelodi.
Even though the metro has vowed to crush the occupation of land around Tshwane, residents of Bufferzone in Mamelodi still occupied land at the weekend.
Red Ants, the metro police and the SAPS had to be called in to demolish the half-built shacks on Monday morning.
The angry residents complained they were not given notice of eviction and wished they had been warned.
Resident Martha Mahlangu said she was on guard to ensure her grandson’s shack was not looted when the police arrived.
“The metro police came and did not talk to anyone and started demolishing the shack.”
“My grandson spent money to buy the building material and the Red Ants did not only demolish his shack, they crushed it to make sure the corrugated iron could not be used again.”
Some residents said they had spoken to their councillor about the vacant land and found out the metro had no plans for it.
Tshepo Mabena said: “We decided to erect shacks there because most of us were still staying with our parents and had no where to go.”
The residents have since vowed to build their shacks again, to show the Tshwane metro they were serious about wanting a place to stay.
They said the government housing waiting list was administered by metro workers’ family members so they had no chance of benefiting.
About a week ago, unknown people attacked the manager of the RDP housing development in Nellmapius Extension 22 and Mamelodi Extension 5 and robbed him of the keys to the newly-completed houses, which they then illegally occupied.
The metro threatened to crush the lawlessness.
It is alleged that in Mamelodi residents had barricaded roads, demanding houses early on Monday [today].
Rekord is still awaiting confirmation from the authorities.
Also read:
Cops shoot at the media in Mamelodi
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