MBOMBELA- The Democratic Alliance in the province strongly condemns the EFF’s land invasions.
“The DA strongly oppose the EFF opportunistic exploitation of our people’s desperate need for land and the government’s failure to deliver on housing,” reads a media statement.
“Illegal land grabs only keep poor people further and further away from real land ownership,” continued the statement.
This comes after media reports, which alleged that the EFF provincial chairman Mr Collen Sedibe has encouraged community members across the province to occupy land illegally in places like Waterval Boven, Delmas and Bethal Extension 5.
It is further alleged that Sedibe said the party is in the process of identifying more land for community members to occupy under the guise of it being vacant.
As it stands, South Africa is committed to the ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ principle, and the EFF’s deviation from this will further impact on government’s inability to deliver. This will also compromise the quality of life for those living on this illegally occupied land.
The DA questions whether Sedibe has even considered whether the illegally occupied land is viable for human settlement, whether services can be delivered there, or where these people will go should they be removed from this land.
Illegal land occupation tends to result in the following outcomes;
• Children having to walk very far to get to school- it’s unlikely that there are schools close to these areas;
• Service delivery protests resulting from the fact that there are no services available to them;
• Scaring off potential investors as no business person would want to purchase land for operations with a high chance of it being taken away illegally.
Premier David Mabuza has on several occasions condemned land invasions and has spoken out strongly in favour of protecting land rights. The DA reiterates its call to Premier Mabuza to establish an “anti-land invasion rapid response team” to immediately respond to any illegal land invasions that may occur in the province.
The rights of land owners are enshrined in the constitution and the EFF would do well to educate themselves in this regard instead of encouraging criminality for political grandstanding.
Every South African has the right to access shelter but going about it illegally will only spell disaster for people who desperately need land. If the EFF is truly serious about addressing the issues of land redistribution, the DA urges them to follow due process so that everyone receives fair treatment.
