Illovo automotive park plots ‘illegally sold’
The land owned by Dube TradePort Corporation was illegally invaded by people from Umgababa and Lovu in April 2023.
ON THE heels of Toyota South Africa pulling out of the deal to build an automotive supplier hub in Illovo, the owner of the site, Dube TradePort Corporation, said it is aware of an individual illegally selling plots of the land to the public.
Also read: Automotive industrial park pulled from Illovo
Dube TradePort Corporation’s spokesperson Vincent Zwane said the land has been designated for the construction of the automotive supplier park and is not for sale. After eThekwini Municipality announced that Toyota South Africa is in negotiations to bring the hub to the old Durban International Airport because environmental authorisation applications were taking too long, Dube TradePort Corporation said it will build its automotive supplier park at the same site. It said this will be done once the environmental processes are finalised.
“We would like to issue a warning to potential victims that Dube TradePort Corporation is not selling land to members of the public. Any attempt to enter the site and engage in any construction activities will be stopped by our on-site security,” said Zwane.
The land in question was invaded by people from Umgababa and Lovu in April 2023, who partitioned off plots for themselves. They were eventually driven off a few days after Inkosi (Chief) Phathisizwe Luthuli of Umnini distanced himself and denounced the illegal acts.
Speaking on behalf of the Umnini Community Trust, an entity established by Inkosi Luthulu to look after the affairs of his tribe, Sipho Msimango said that besides rumours about the alleged sales of land, the trust has not been officially made aware.
“We haven’t heard from anyone who has bought a plot or received any report about it. If a person is doing this, chances are they are not from here. People of Umgababa have been taught about the coming automotive supplier hub that it is going to give them employment,” said Msimango.
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