Soshanguve extension 6 demolishing company refutes claims by ‘residents’
"I believe that the criminal element who was selling the land did not think that the owners would be back for the land."
The company responsible for demolishing the houses in Soshanguve extension 6 last week Tuesday has refuted claims by residents that they did not know there was an order to evict them.
Residents embarked on a violent protest, setting fire to a bus, a Mercedes Benz and two trucks in an attempt to stop the eviction order from being executed.
Last week during an interview with Rekord, the occupiers said they were not aware that they built on illegal land as they had purchased the land from people they did not want to name.
Owner of Blackwater Afrique du Sud, (the company responsible for the demolition) Karl Venter said the land belongs to a family trust although the owners have not been staying there for a long time.
ALSO READ: Soshanguve ext 6 residents aggrieved by evictions
Venter said the first court order to evict the people, who had occupied the land, was issued on July 29, 2020.
“At that stage, there were no structures, these people were interdicted not to build, not to demarcate and not to sell the land.
“Another order was given in December 2020 but it was not the final order. The final order was issued on May 17, 2021. The sheriff and I went to the property and the order was given to the response on July 19, 2021,” Venter said.
“The order was served to an attorney representing these people. An urgent application was made by the occupants on September 9. The application was heard on September 23 and was dismissed with costs, so they cannot say they did not know.”
Venter said the people who were selling the land in extension 6 are currently unknown to them but there is an ongoing investigation.
“I believe that the criminal element who was selling the land did not think that the owners would be back for the land. I can’t see how anyone can purchase land without a title deed but unfortunately, it has happened.”
Venter said in some instances where land is sold illegally, councillors play a part in making sure that illegal land is sold to desperate and unsuspecting residents.
“I have a video where councillors were going to landowners and demanding to see title deeds which they are not entitled to. We have councillors that are trying to evict people in their houses because they say those people are not the rightful owners. They are trying to do it without court orders.”
ALSO READ: Three injured, bus, truck set alight as violent protest erupts in Soshanguve
Venter said it is very difficult to remove people who have erected structures on your land and the owners lose a lot of money trying to remove them.
“The operation in Soshanguve cost the landowners R500 000 excluding the legal fees.”
He urged people who have lost money in the Soshanguve illegal land sales and others in other parts of the city to open criminal cases against those who sold them the land illegally.
“People have lost thousands of rands, the only way they can recover it is not through a normal civil litigation, it will not work. They need to open a criminal case.
“If they open a case, we can assist them as soon as the suspects are arrested. They can seize their assets to try and recover as much money as possible for these people.”
Venter said victims can claim for all the monies they have lost, including those they used to build the structures that were demolished.
Acting chief of staff in the Tshwane mayor’s office Jordan Griffiths said land invasions are probably the most pressing emerging issues facing cities across the country.
Griffiths said they have seen an increase in the number of land evasions in the metro and this is happening in areas across the city.
He said land evasion was driven by a number of reasons, one being urban migration whereby people from rural outline areas are moving to the city.
“They don’t have a place to stay so they identify a piece of land and illegally invade it. Others are undocumented foreign nationals who effectively start their own type of settlement on private or public land.
“Other issues are corrupt individuals or criminal syndicates who try and sell land to unsuspecting residents who then assume that they have title deeds, because they have met with someone who offers some level of legitimacy.”
He said the biggest frustration is that people who come and report after being scammed of buying illegal land is that they are often not prepared to formally testify, formally write an affidavit or open a criminal case.
Griffiths said the city has a team of people who are continuously monitoring land invasions.
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