Suspension of Red Ants could lead to widespread land grabs, FF Plus warns

The Freedom Front Plus on Tuesday warned that the suspension of the Red Ants’ business  registration was alarming and opened the door for illegal land occupations and land grabs.

The FF Plus was reacting to reports that the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) had suspended the business registration of Red Ant Security Relocation and Eviction Services, following the demolitions of illegal structures in Alexandra in May.

The party said it seemed that PSiRA had given in to political pressure to take action against the Red Ants.

“The Red Ants usually only take action after obtaining a warrant and the FF Plus assumes that the company did that in this case as well so the party, therefore, sees no grounds for the allegation that the company acted outside of its mandate," the FF Plus said.

It said the fact that the company's hands were now tied opened the door for large-scale land occupations.

“Open spaces like parks can now be illegally occupied and if the occupants are not removed within the specified time, the problem can escalate very quickly.”

The party said the action taken against the Red Ants had also bound the hands of city councils seeing as the Red Ants were widely used to resolve illegal occupations.

It said municipal authorities did not have the ability to resolve these problems themselves.

“This is yet another example of where those who abide by the law are punished while law breakers go unpunished.”