A group of people who illegally built a squatter camp on land in Die Hoewes, Centurion, was evicted on Friday.

Tshwane metro received a court interdict in December 2021 forcing them to evict the squatters, according to Ward Councillor Peter Sutton.

Sutton says the issue had been going back and forth between the metro and the squatters since December as they always returned to build on the land again.

“We set up temporary housing in Sunderland Ridge, Centurion, for the families after we evicted them from the municipal land.

“They, however, kept on leaving the temporary housing that we set up for them to go back and build their homes exactly where they were evicted from.

“They really can’t be staying there because it is an illegal land invasion,” he says.

Sutton says most of the people were undocumented immigrants and that was a big concern for the Tshwane metro.

He says the temporary housing allocated to the squatters was valid for six months. This was enough time for them to provide the relevant documentation to the Department of Home Affairs or they might face deportation.

Sutton says the metro would continue evicting illegal land invaders and ensuring that immigrants staying in the metro had the relevant documentation.

“We will make sure that they don’t return to the land again as we have allocated them a temporary place to stay.”

The TMPD could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press.