iSimangaliso obtains court interdict against land invaders
Community members accuse the park of constructing a barrier preventing the river from flowing into the sea causes flooding
The iSimangaliso Wetland Park on Monday obtained a court interdict from the Pietermaritzburg High Court against the land invaders at Futululu.
Park spokesperson Bheki Manzini said the interdict was obtained because some community members were continuing with ‘illegal activities’ of invading the land.
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Last Tuesday, Dukuduku community members protested stating that they wanted to claim the land back for farming because fields have been flooded by the backed-up Mfolozi River.
Community members accuse the park of constructing a barrier preventing the river from flowing into the sea, subsequently resulting in the flooding of their farmland.
The park has dismissed this accusation and stated that the closing of the river mouth is a natural occurrence.
Inkosi Luke Mkhwanazi established a task team to look into the matter, which is headed by Mzonjane Gumede.
The team and park officials met on Monday to find a resolution.
Manzini said in its ruling, the high court had understood the park’s request and the urgency of the matter, thereby issuing the interdict.
Manzini said the park’s approach to the matter had been to first attempt to resolve it amicably by engaging with all the stakeholders, especially the community members. However, it had become clear that the ‘unfortunate’ invasion of land was ongoing.
On Tuesday morning, Mtubatuba police spokesperson, Captain Justice Hlabisa said no arrests had been made.
Read more on this story on this Thursday’s edition of the Zululand Observer.
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