More than 50 arrested in iSimangaliso land invasion crackdown

More than 50 land invaders arrested as iSimangaliso authority cracks down on widespread destruction and vandalism amounting to millions in damages.

1 hour ago

Tamlyn Cramer 2 minutes read

More than 50 arrested for land invasion in Ozabeni section of iSimangaliso Wetland Park Image: iSimangaliso/Facebook

MORE than 50 land invaders were on Thursday arrested in the Ozabeni section of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, within the bounds of the protected area.

The iSimangaliso authority on Friday issued a statement welcoming the SAPS and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife joint implementation of an interim court order, saying those arrested were contravening the conditions issued by the High Court of South Africa on 30 June.

In its statement, iSimangaliso said various illegal activities including the cutting of fences, illegal land invasion and agricultural activities prompted the conservation authority to approach community leaders of the affected areas to try to work together to resolve the problem.

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“Sadly, there has been poor cooperation and the destruction continues. As a result, iSimangaliso was forced to approach the high court for urgent relief,” said iSimangaliso.

“To date, damage is believed to be in excess of 10 hectares of trees cut and land cleared, as well as 45km of park fencing vandalised and stolen.

“Measures to reduce human-wildlife conflict arising from damaged porous boundary fence line needs to be undertaken soon.”

iSimangaliso said the financial consequences for the park are substantial, with fencing repairs across the park due to vandalism alone amounting to R26m and stolen fencing in the region of R20m.

“These costs represent pressure on State resources that would otherwise support conservation operations, infrastructure maintenance, community-benefit initiatives and employment-related programmes.”

The park went on to say that the implementation of programmes is now also at risk, with 27 Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) employees unable to carry out their duties owing to the prevailing situation.

“iSimangaliso wishes to send a warning to the public, especially the local communities, to not participate in illegal activities such as land invasion and damaging of infrastructure, as such actions may lead to further arrest,” continued the wetland park authority.

“Barricading of roads and disrupting vehicles on the roads in the park is equally strongly condemned.”

The arrests come as the R22 that runs from Hluhluwe to Sodwana Bay was blocked by protesters intermittently on Wednesday and Thursday in the vicinity of the lower Mkhuze bridge, causing major disruption to traffic.

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