Fourth wave of land invasions at Life Tree
KYA SANDS – Kya Sands informal settlement's Life Tree recently experienced a fourth wave of land invasions.
Kya Sands informal settlement’s charity organisation Life Tree Foundation recently experienced a fourth wave of land invasions after more areas of their property was encroached upon by land invaders.
According to Life Tree’s Carla Kamp, members of political parties and their supporters met under the trees of their facility on the morning of 12 August ahead of the alleged invasion.
Kamp said, “We always have to be worried about approaching any mobs that gathered near us, and we are always on alert from threats that we have faced in the past.”
Kamp added that the staff quarters on Life Tree’s property were now under threat from being overrun by the land invaders.
She said, “We have staff quarters at the bottom of our property that are now surrounded by demarcations, and I have alerted the City of Joburg’s regional director and the housing department about the problem. We are now waiting to hear further word from the City.”
Kamp speculated that those occupying the newly demarcated land were illegal immigrants.
“The majority of the people now occupying the land are illegal immigrants who have been sold their plots illegally and cheaply,” she claimed. “The issue has now grown so big that removing them could lead to a serious social outcry.”
In December 2018, Life Tree dealt with its first land invasion. Since then, the facility is now dealing with more land invasions, with an estimated 250 new informal structures that have gone up on their property since the Randburg Sun first reported on the issue on 12 December last year.
Kamp said in the space of two years, the Life Tree Foundation’s buildings have had 33 break-ins and is still without electricity after recent cable theft.
The City of Joburg had not responded to the land invasion issue at the time of going to print.
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