LEHAWU – The High Court of South Africa Gauteng Division in Pretoria has ruled that the SAPS be ordered to remove and even arrest anyone who invades the now Gwede Manthashe Village, which is just a stone’s throw away from Emoyeni Mall.
In the final draft of the High Court seen by Mpumalanga News, Judge J Mphahlele ordered that a final interdict be issued in terms of which the first to eleventh respondents are ordered not to trespass on, traverse onto or otherwise invade and directly or indirectly utilise the immovable property, which was renamed Gwende Manthashe Village.
Mphahlele’s ruling came after the Xolo Village Development Pty Ltd made an urgent application to the High Court after this specific piece of land was allegedly invaded. The KaBokweni Magistrate’s Court had earlier thrown this matter out, which propelled applicants to approach the High Court.
Mpumalanga News had since established that stands were sold here from R5 000 to R10 000 each.
Even with the High Court ruling, there had been activities in this said village with stand owners slowly starting to erect shacks and houses.
Speaking to the legal representatives of the applicants, they had warned that people would be arrested if they continued invading the land.
“The High Court has ordered as such and people should learn to respect the laws of the country,” read a statement released by the legal team. The High Court also ordered that the Sheriff of the Court for the district of Mbombela be authorised and directed to remove the illegal occupants of the land and anyone found to be present on the aforementioned land within 48 hours from the date and time of issuing of this order and at any time thereafter.
Sourced information from the Mbombela Local Municipality suggested that they were against land grabbing because such land were usually not on the Integrated Development Plan (IDP).”This causes a big headache for government because the very same people will soon take to the streets and burn tyres demanding services and forgetting that the invaded land was not in government’s plan,” said the source.
Mpumalanga News had since reliably learnt that this piece of land was actually earmarked for development, which included a clinic and multipurpose sports centre.
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