Tshwane municipality condemns Olievenhoutbosch land invasions

Gavin Dullisear, the owner of illegally occupied land in Olievenhoutbosch, is not worried and believes the law is on his side.

His lawyers are dealing with the matter and have obtained eviction orders that will be handed to the illegal land occupiers.

“I have the law on my side and I am not even worried about it. I have absolutely nothing to say on the matter — it is just part of living in SA,” he said when asked if he had done anything to prevent people invading the land.

Residents in the area started occupying the land on Friday. The occupation intensified on Saturday, when the EEF in Gauteng posted on Twitter that land was being handed out for free to all who need it. 

“Come and get land for free today [Saturday],” the tweet read, with the details of the party’s councillor Godwin Ratikwane.

Some people who occupied the land said on Monday rent in the area is expensive and they couldn’t afford it as they are unemployed.

Ratikwane told TimesLIVE on Wednesday no owner has claimed the land and residents will continue to erect shacks.

The municipality didn’t have a court order and couldn't evict people, he said.

“They don’t have anything on us. They cannot evict people now until they have something tangible.”

Tshwane MMC for human settlement Abel Tau said on Wednesday the city maintained a zero-tolerance approach to illegal land invasions and condemned the land grab attempts.

“The land in question is privately owned, while another portion belongs to the Gauteng government and is earmarked for low-cost housing development by the province.”  

The city is aware of the housing backlog and is working with the relevant stakeholders, including the Gauteng MEC for human settlements, to release land to develop and relocate qualifying residents living in informal settlements.

“Not only is land invasion illegal, but it also derails efforts to develop available land for habitable settlement. These illegal land grabs also further delay development plans already in the pipeline which results in identified beneficiaries waiting longer than necessary to get proper housing.”

The Tshwane multiparty coalition government condemned the “opportunistic abuse of vulnerable communities for political gain”.

“As MMC for human settlements, I would like the community of Olievenhoutbosch to constructively engage with the city on housing matters and not engage in illegal activities.

“Land invasions negatively affect all residents and place an additional strain on the city’s budget. Land invasions often result in the city being forced to provide rudimental services that were not budgeted [for], thus exhausting the limited budget set aside for planned services,” said Tau.

TimesLIVE

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