Hundreds of squatters evicted from vacant plot
DIEPSLOOT - More than 100 squatters were evicted from a 74-hectare property opposite Diepsloot Mall on 18 January.
According to Ward 94 councillor, John Mendelsohn, residents contacted him on 17 January about a vacant plot of land on William Nicol Drive, on which hundreds of people were demarcating sites on which to build shacks. He said people were using poles to mark out their individual plots while others were already constructing shacks on the land.
According to Mendelsohn, the land is privately owned therefore the people occupying the land were trespassing.
Diepsloot police and Metro police were notified and on 18 January a convoy of more than 30 police vehicles descended on the property.
According to Mendelsohn police discovered that an opportunistic Diepsloot resident had taken it upon himself to sell off sections of the vacant land to hopeful buyers. By that afternoon, Metro police had peacefully evicted all the people who were squatting on the land and had burnt the poles the people were using as markers.
It was reported that police are investigating a case of illegal land sale.
