EFF members grab some land
Land grabbing by members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) started in earnest earlier this week after EFF regional leaders were given the go ahead by their national leader, Julius Malema.
POLOKWANE – Land grabbing by members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) started in earnest earlier this week after EFF regional leaders were given the go ahead by their national leader, Julius Malema.
EFF Limpopo leader, Mike Mathebe, said by tomorrow he would have information from all the regions in the province regarding the land to be occupied.
“Regions had to identify areas to occupy before we began our campaign to occupy land on a large scale,” he said on Tuesday, adding that this was part of a national programme decided on by their leaders.
On Sunday cars and people were seen gathered at open erven just outside the city on the R71 road to Tzaneen, and on Monday a grader was seen clearing land while a large number of people chopped down trees to clear the veld. Bakkies and lorries carrying building materials arrived intermittently, offloading their cargo.
On Tuesday, hundreds of people arrived at the site and queued to be given their own stands. Traffic on the R71 was disrupted until around 11:00 because of the large number of people.
Provincial government spokesperson, Phuti Seloba, said people must not be encouraged by criminal activity and irresponsible shortcuts taken by the EFF. He said government was introducing “revolutionary” land programmes.
“Our people need land. Land cannot remain in the hands of a few.
“But we must address the issue in a civilised and mature way. Laws need to be followed,” he said.
Provincial police spokesperson, Col Ronél Otto, said the police wanted to warn people to respect people’s property rights, whether it was private or government owned property.
“Do not interfere with people’s rights. The police will act accordingly and take the necessary steps if an occupation is illegal.”
Otto said should anybody feel that their property rights were being infringed, they should contact the police as soon as possible for the matter to be attended to according to the circumstances and the appropriate legislation.
Municipal spokesperson, Tidimalo Chuene, said the occupied land mostly belonged to the national department of public works. She said the land included Kalkfontein farm.
She could not confirm reports that some of the land was privately owned or that another portion of land belonged to a property development company.
Chuene said the municipality supported the owners’ applications to court for interdicts to prevent invaders occupying the land.
