George Lea Park and the squatters that live in the park have been widely spoken about and reported in the Sandton Chronicle.
Although Metro police staged a raid in the park on 9 June and community members have staged numerous clean-ups in the past, vagrants still live in the park and use the grounds to sort through the litter that they collect for recycling.
Ward 90 councillor, Martin Williams said, “We need to remember that the issues of George Lea Park are not isolated to just this park. There are many [squatters] throughout the area. We cannot simply drive these people out or burn their belongings, and humane solutions need to be established.”
Williams believes that if the squatters are removed from the park, they will merely move to other surrounding areas. “Better shelters need to be found and we need to see these squatters as human beings.”
One of the squatters, Abel Muytele said, “That raid was unsuccessful and did not even work. All of us have come back. And now there are even more of us.”
Contrary to what Williams said, Muytele highlighted that the squatters in the park did not have any other land to move to. “The land across the road [in Hurlingham] is overpopulated and there is no more space anywhere else for us.”
He said that he could easily afford to pay rental elsewhere as he earned a decent living as a waste collector. “But I want to stay here [the park] because it is close to where I collect rubbish. The waste in Sandton is perfect for my job because there is a lot of rubbish.”
Lori Klein, who is a lower Sandhurst resident and the administrator for her area said, “We need to think of solutions. We are planning on verbally informing the squatters that they have to move out of the park by early September and we are going to put signs up around the park notifying them of this.
“Furthermore, plans are being made to implement security measures to keep the park safe and in order.”
In response to these future plans, Williams said, “I wish them all of the best with these plans, however, the issue of displaced persons is so widespread and not isolated to one area. The truth is that these people [vagrants] will merely move elsewhere when they are removed from the park.”
