Land invaders to be evicted
Mr Henry Masango, head of communication and marking of the Govan Mbeki municipality says land invasions have an adverse impact on service delivery plans, therefore land invaders will be evicted soon.
SECUNDA – Govan Mbeki Municipality has adopted a zero tolerance approach towards land invasion.
This was after residents had illegally invaded land in Lebohang, Kinross and eMzinoni.
Mr Henry Masango, head of communication and marketing of the Govan Mbeki Municipality, said gangs of people are meandering within the Govan Mbeki Municipal area, building shacks on both municipal and privately owned land.
He said some of the invaded land has been earmarked for low-cost housing development, farms which are the bread basket or land that is not habitable due to low flood-line or sinking due to undermining.
“This illegal act had to be stopped by the municipality’s squatter control unit in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies, including municipal police, local police and public order policing.
“This is in line with the municipality’s long standing decision that land invasion will no longer be tolerated.
“The municipality has been granted numerous court orders to demolish any new structures that are erected on council land which has been reserved for development.
“Acting in line with this court ruling, Council is demolishing shacks that had been built on municipal land illegally.
“Council adopts a zero-tolerance approach to land invasion and is committed to putting an end to this practice.”
He said in cases of land invasions, the municipality is not obliged to prioritise the invaders for housing delivery, nor will it be obliged to provide services like water, electricity and sanitation.
“The municipality is guided by Council policies and the court of law.
“For people living in existing informal settlements, we will continue with delivery plans that are already in place, including the provision of interim services such as water, electricity and sanitation, which are presently being rolled out to different informal settlements in the Govan Mbeki municipal area.
“We urge people to be patient and to not invade land and houses that are already allocated to beneficiaries.
“Land invasions have an adverse impact on service delivery plans.”
