Honeydew families living in fear as land grabbers begin to erect camp on their boundary
Valentine's Avenue residents recall nights of fear and panic after they watch land grabbers hurl rocks at JMPD officers.
Each swing of the pick-axe brings an incremental creep of mounting danger.
Residents living on Valentine’s Avenue near the border of a popular golf estate are facing a battle they are ill-prepared for. Recent days have seen large numbers of people demarcating plots of neighbouring property with the view of erecting dwellings. Encounters with the land grabbers of what is private property have resulted in increasing aggression which was expressed with rocks on July 25.
The residents relay how Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) was called to the possible land invasion scene at roughly 10:00. After retreating briefly as JMPD approached, the large group regathered further down the valley and returned to pelt officers with bricks who duly left the scene. One resident relayed that JMPD vehicles returned later in the day but no disruption has been made to those demarcating potential living quarters.
The owners of the land bordering the Valentine’s Avenue plots are being accused of having a nonchalant attitude toward the situation. The owner of the property denied this when contacted, stating that multiple attempts, including ignored court orders, had been made to remove squatters on the land which extends from the Valentine’s Avenue boundary to the edge of the informal settlement. The owner added roughly 600 shacks needed to be removed from his company’s land.
Valentine’s Avenue residents fearful for their lives
All that separates the residents of Valentine’s Avenue and the intimidating swell of people is an electric fence with a barbed wire foundation. The area suffers regular power outages and the evening after the land grabbers chased away authorities, the electricity supply went down. The power had yet to return by 10:00 the following day, and with the battery on the electric fence lasting only several hours, fear has amplified.
Nicholas Pearton first noticed men on the adjacent property several days before the skirmish with authorities and shares that he had men wandering around his property on at least 10 occasions in the last week. Describing the diggers as having an aggressive attitude who laughed at his attempts to protest, the reasons he and his neighbours were given ranged from wanting to leave the crime of Zandspuit Informal Settlement or simply wanting a place to cook.
Pearton notes how there have been sporadic incidents of theft since he and his wife moved in last February but they now refuse to sleep at the property with Pearton only returning home to work during the day. In the days preceding the standoff with authorities, he has had gas bottles, garden furniture, and tools stolen and while interrupting one looter who then fled the property, the man left behind a flat trolley commonly associated with suburban waste collectors.
Next door to the Peartons lives 78-year-old Mari Thorogood and her family. Her son Mike accompanied JMPD officers to confront the land grabbers and was among those dodging rocks. The Thorogoods have lived on the property for 48 years and Mari says she has resorted to sitting on her bed with her .38 Special and a box of ammo.
“We have lived here for so many years and it is a disgrace that we have to live in fear,” she said.
A disregard for private property ownership
The Minnaar family owns the property that the Peartons and six others live on in various separate homes. Carrie Minnaar stated how the street has had several violent incidents over the years but even after erecting kilometres of electric fences, beams around the homes, concrete under fences, three layers of razor wire, and more, criminals find a way onto the property.
Minnaar has received multiple calls notifying her of men freely roaming the property looking for building materials or other items.
“That is private land next to us. The absolute fear is that if they are taking that private land, nothing is stopping them from taking our land. It is complete lawlessness. If you ask them what they are doing they laugh at you and tell you it is none of your business,” she said, whose parents have owned the property since 1987.
The Minnaars have arranged private security for their property but residents feel if the land grabbers can fight back against authorities, little else may stop them.
JMPD and SAPS both acknowledged attempts for additional information sent on July 26 and their comments will be shared when forthcoming.
