UPDATE: Authorities evict illegal land invaders

About 60 shacks that were demolished on 12 August in Kya Sand Informal Settlement, belonged to illegal land invaders.

Douglasdale Police spokesperson, Captain Balan Muthan, said the operation has been in the planning stages since last week. “Metro Police, the Johannesburg Department of Housing and the Red Ants are all involved,” he said.

He explained that residents were warned and instructed not to occupy the land but did not heed the call. “People were slowly occupying the other portions of land, erecting shacks and ignoring the warnings,” said Muthan. “They are not authorised to stay in that area and that’s why the Red Ants were deployed to demolish the shacks,” he said.

“They are not authorised to stay in that area and that’s why the Red Ants were deployed to demolish the shacks,” he said.

Read previous story: NEWS JUST IN: Red ants evict residents in Kya Sand

A resident – who claimed to be part of the committee, Nyauza Nongwevu – said the stakeholders failed to warn residents prior to the eviction. “The constitutional rights of the residents are being violated; they should have warned them before they started demolishing these shacks,” he said.

He further complained that some of the residents did not have anywhere to sleep since the eviction began on Wednesday, 10 August.

“Since this operation, many shacks have been demolished leaving most residents without accommodation,” he complained. According to Nongwevu, the department should have provided tents for the evicted residents. One of the evicted residents, Charles Sithole, said he built his one-room house about three months ago. “I don’t have anywhere to go now,” he said.

This father of two children said he was not authorised to build his house but he went ahead. “They know I’ve built a house because they even allocated a number for my house,” he concluded.

Details: Douglasdale Police, 011 699 1300.

Related articles:

Dozens evicted from their home without an eviction notice