Vacant land apparently has turned into a war zone

Over the festive season, several bodies have been discovered in two vacant pieces of land in Windmill Park, respectively.

These pieces of land situated along Barry Marais Road and near Thulasizwe Primary School have turned into a war zone where people are reportedly being raped and killed.

Community member Angelina Motshabi highlighted that the metro has neglected to maintain these pieces of land.

Apparently the EMPD opposed the community members when they were busy with a clean-up operation so that they could erect their shacks.

One of the community leaders Sarah Mokoena alleged that EMPD officials assaulted some of the community members by hitting them, chocking and forcefully taking their tools.

Another community leader Thembelani Dyantyi said the officers shot people with rubber bullets on January 20.

On January 22, the community then mobilised themselves and marched to the offices of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department in Thokoza to raise their concerns.

Speaking to the head of the EMPD, Dyantyi said they demanded the police to stop harassing them.

“We felt that we were ill-treated because the officers were supposed talk to us but instead they just fired rubber bullets and assaulted the community. We have raised this issue of these vacant lands to the metro for years but nothing has been done, hence we decided to act.”

The community also blamed the police for the killings saying that they should have dealt with the violence in the area but they dragged their feet up until the situation intensified.

Arnold Fortune, one of the community members, complained that ward 99 councillor Mduduzi Luvalo hasn’t played his role as a councillor.

“Every service delivery issue that we have as a community he turns a blind eye. He just doesn’t take us seriously,” Fortune said.

According to Luvalo, he held a public meeting last year November where he addressed the issue of houses after he was made aware that the community wanted to build shacks at vacant pieces of land in the area.

“I was there with the MMC for Roads and Storm water Masele Madihlaba who represented the MMC for Human Settlements, Lesiba Mpya. During the meeting, it was highlighted that we can’t allow people to invade the vacant land in the area because the metro has other plans in terms of development.

“We told them that everyone who applied for houses should wait up until the metro places them. We had a similar incident a few years back when the community just decided to occupy a piece of land unlawfully.”

He said the the metro was planning to build a park while another piece of land has been identified as a wetland.

“In instances where the community just occupies a piece a land it becomes problem because surveyors need to check if that piece of land is fit for people to occupy,” he said.

Luvalo said the metro is also planning to build a hall at the vacant piece of land near Thulasizwe Primary School.

He highlighted that he wasn’t aware of the recent killings and that the metro was in the process of cutting the grass to deal with the issue of overgrown grass.

According to Dawn Park police spokesperson Const Nkemeleng Mabula, so far they have arrested four suspects in connection with these murders.

The Advertiser has sought comment from the EMPD.