Sisulu condemns ‘illegal land invasion’

Minister of Human Settlements Lindiwe Sisulu has continued to reiterate her call against evictions during the lockdown while also condemning “illegal land invasion”.

Speaking while on a site evaluation visit at Townlands Village housing construction in Marabastad, Pretoria CBD, Sisulu said people should not be evicted during the lockdown.

“We are sending a stern message to our people that they will not invade any land, it is completely illegal. We are also still firm on our call that no one should be evicted during the lockdown.”

This as residents of Eersterust this week embarked on a strike over lack of housing in the area.

Rekord East reported that the residents started building shacks on vacant land which the Tshwane metro police later demolished. Sisulu said her department was undertaking several housing construction projects such as the Townlands projects for many residents in need of quality houses.

Sisulu said that she was happy with the progress made since construction re-open under lockdown level 3 on the building. The Townlands construction site was said to be the biggest in the country with 1,200 housing units at a cost of more than R400-million.

Sisulu said the housing projects were made for the low-income residents who lived in informal settlements.

“This project is made to offer our residents affordable quality housing that will also be close to town. Many people who are working in the CBD spend a lot of money on transport because they cannot afford housing settlements in the CBD, but projects like these will assist our people,” she said.

“The primary intention of the social housing act is to deliver affordable rental housing for low to moderate-income groups and to achieve spatial, economic and social integration of the urban environments in South Africa.

The project, which was started in 2016 and initially expected to be completed late last year, was set to reach completion next year in March.

She said the lockdown delayed the construction of the site along with challenges related to lack of property development expertise.

Before the lockdown the construction site had more than 500 people working on it and currently has just over 200 workers.

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