Protesters torch roads over land and jobs in Durban

Firefighters and Metro police were called to quell burning barricades of debris and tyres on Durban's Randles and Sparks roads on Monday morning. 

Metro police spokesperson senior superintendent Parboo Sewpersad said police were on standby in the area, where about 30 protesters were outside the Shifa hospital. 

He said that the protest action stemmed from a number of grievances, including working conditions.

The protest action came after a community meeting at the George Hill park in Sherwood on Saturday to discuss land invasions at the nearby Lockley Road area in recent days.

In a statement after the meeting, community group eThekwini Secure spokesperson Mohamed Ismail said: "In the last two weeks we witnessed an explosion of land grabs in the Ward 31 area especially where the situation became a serious cause of concern for the settled community."

The group said it was working together with other community policing forums, deputy mayor Fawzia Peer, Metro, Saps' Land Invasion Unit and others to address land grabs.

"We urge the community to not take the law into their own hands as we do not want the matter of land invasion to escalate to anything beyond what it actually is.

"In some areas where people have already settled on municipal land, eviction orders have been issued to have the transgressors removed."

Ismail said it was imperative for social cohesion to understand why the land grabs of municipal land were currently taking place.

He said task teams have been put in place to deal with matters of land invasion, starting at CPF level where teams would continue to observe any development that could be an imminent land invasion.

It is presently largely unknown who might behind the current land invasions, which seem well-planned and well-executed.