Police and the municipal land invasion unit thwarted a group of more than 200 people who attempted to occupy land in Shallcross, Chatsworth, south of Durban.
Fatima Ismail, eThekwini ward 71 councillor, told SowetanLIVE's sister publication TimesLIVE the invasions started on Friday when the group marked spots they wanted to occupy in Lilac Road, Himalaya Drive, Papaver Road and Outeniqua Street.
“It’s been occurring since Friday where more than 200 land invaders marked the spots they wanted to invade on private and municipal land for unknown reasons. On Sunday, they marched back there to erect illegal structures and had an altercation with the police.”
The group were reportedly slumlords from Welbedacht East, West and the Bottlebrush area who are seeking to build informal settlements to rent out for about R800 a month.
“This has been happening for years. There is a vast area of informal settlements in and around the area that are already being rented out to people who are desperate for housing, including Bottlebrush settlements, the settlements around the Ridge, the business park … There are 13 names of those informal settlements in total.”
Ismail said the city started electrifying some of the areas but most relied on illegal connections to water and electricity infrastructure and slumlords were taking advantage of that.
“The R800 rent includes water and electricity services because they are mostly illegally connected in these informal settlements. We have applied for electrification of these areas and, in some, electricity meters are already being installed,” she said.
A church had donated a few hectares of the land to the communities.
She added the area was not safe as it is a floodplain and there were electricity pylons there, but slumlords were building structures despite the risk to tenants.
Durban metro police spokesperson Boysie Zungu confirmed the attempted land invasion.
“The metro police, with SAPS and land invasion unit, intervened and the crowd was dispersed, but there was no shoot-out from the information we have. They were starting to erect structures but everything was dealt with,” he said.
Ismail said there had been reports linking a man affiliated to a political party to the land grabs, but no-one had come forward with proof.
TimesLIVE
Land invasion attempt thwarted in Chatsworth
Image: Supplied
Police and the municipal land invasion unit thwarted a group of more than 200 people who attempted to occupy land in Shallcross, Chatsworth, south of Durban.
Fatima Ismail, eThekwini ward 71 councillor, told SowetanLIVE's sister publication TimesLIVE the invasions started on Friday when the group marked spots they wanted to occupy in Lilac Road, Himalaya Drive, Papaver Road and Outeniqua Street.
“It’s been occurring since Friday where more than 200 land invaders marked the spots they wanted to invade on private and municipal land for unknown reasons. On Sunday, they marched back there to erect illegal structures and had an altercation with the police.”
The group were reportedly slumlords from Welbedacht East, West and the Bottlebrush area who are seeking to build informal settlements to rent out for about R800 a month.
“This has been happening for years. There is a vast area of informal settlements in and around the area that are already being rented out to people who are desperate for housing, including Bottlebrush settlements, the settlements around the Ridge, the business park … There are 13 names of those informal settlements in total.”
Ismail said the city started electrifying some of the areas but most relied on illegal connections to water and electricity infrastructure and slumlords were taking advantage of that.
“The R800 rent includes water and electricity services because they are mostly illegally connected in these informal settlements. We have applied for electrification of these areas and, in some, electricity meters are already being installed,” she said.
A church had donated a few hectares of the land to the communities.
She added the area was not safe as it is a floodplain and there were electricity pylons there, but slumlords were building structures despite the risk to tenants.
Durban metro police spokesperson Boysie Zungu confirmed the attempted land invasion.
“The metro police, with SAPS and land invasion unit, intervened and the crowd was dispersed, but there was no shoot-out from the information we have. They were starting to erect structures but everything was dealt with,” he said.
Ismail said there had been reports linking a man affiliated to a political party to the land grabs, but no-one had come forward with proof.
TimesLIVE
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