The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) is cautioning residents against buying and illegally occupying municipal land, as they will face the prospects of being evicted or arrested.
This comes in the wake of recent and ongoing land invasions around Ekurhuleni, specifically in Tembisa and Tsakane, where community members forcefully and illegally occupied land belonging to the EMM.
The EMM is obliged to protect and preserve land with the purpose of utilising it for future developments, such as housing, businesses, churches, sporting facilities, roads and agricultural projects.
The illegal occupation of vacant land, without proper approval from the municipality, poses life threatening risks as most land within Ekurhuleni is either dolomitic, lies on the flood line or over old mines, is water locked or is not in line with the metro’s urban development plan.
“Fighting the scourge of land invasions requires the joint participation of all stakeholders. Members of the public are encouraged to contact the local authority when they detect people invading Council owned land,” said the Ekurhuleni spokesperson, Lebogang Ramashala.
Members of the public are urged to contact Ekurhuleni Customer Care Centres or phone the Ekurhuleni Services Call Centre on 0860 453 000 to report land invasion.
