Land invasion protests cause mayhem on N2
LAND invasion protests spilled over on to the N2 yesterday, with protesters throwing burning tyres and rubble from the footbridge near Borcherds Quarry close to Nyanga.
Provincial traffic officials said about 50 people had protested at about 3.30pm, which caused traffic to grind to a halt. The road was, however, cleared when police arrived.
The protest broke out yesterday morning when a group of people identified several plots in Gugulethu near to NY1, on which they wanted to build structures. Later seven shacks were erected on the piece of open field, but the structures were demolished.
Safety and security Mayco member JP Smith said the land invasion in Gugulethu had later spilled over to the protest on the N2. “It resulted in public violence and the blocking off of the road. Public violence is also not legal.
“The illegal invasion of land has longterm consequences. We understand the pressures of there not being enough housing. But illegal land invasions also have risks such as flooding and fires breaking out. Inside informal settlements there are also no water and sewage facilities. This why people cannot illegally occupy land,” he said.
Over the past few weeks several land invasions have taken place in Cape Town.
Last weekend roads were barricaded along Govan Mbeki Road near to NY1 in Gugulethu by housing protesters.
Symphony Way near Belhar was barricaded by people burning tyres and putting up informal structures. This was followed by Jakes Gerwel Drive and parts of the R300 also being blocked off due to protests.