Lenasia residents block roads in protest against 'illegal land grabs'

14 May 2019 - 09:12 By TimesLIVE
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Residents from Lenasia south protested on Tuesday against an alleged land invasion in the area.
Residents from Lenasia south protested on Tuesday against an alleged land invasion in the area.
Image: Ntwaagae Seleka via Twitter

Residents from Lenasia south, Johannesburg, barricaded roads and took to the streets on Tuesday morning to protest alleged illegal land invasions.

The community wants the police to destroy structures built in Extension 4.

Lenasia South Residents Association’s Joy Govender told EWN: “We’ve got people that are coming from outside, it obviously is politically aligned, we’ve got people from here, people from the ANC, all different political parties and a student learner body and they’ve marked off the land.”

Johannesburg public safety MMC Michael Sun told TimesLIVE in February that syndicates were possibly behind the land grabs.

“They are not desperate people who are looking for a piece of land for shelter. These are people who come from far," said Sun.

"When you tell me that somebody [who] drives a BMW‚ an Audi luxury 4x4 … they get together to get into a minibus taxi to go and invade land‚ you have to ask where they come from. We need to investigate this. There is a syndicate behind this. People set up a little help desk to say ‘come register, come sign‚ make your payment and go claim your land’.”

Sun said the city was dealing with land grabs in Lenasia‚ Orange Farm, Midrand‚ Ennerdale‚ Riverlea and Eldorado Park.

This is a developing story.


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