Pledge to tighten grip on land invaders

WITHOUT any fear of contradiction, eThekwini Municipality is one of the metros in the country head and shoulders above the rest in providing free and low-cost housing.

Since the advent of the new dispensation, 200000 housing units have been built with the Cornubia Housing Project being the envy of all.

This has provided decent shelter to over a million poor people and with a shoestring budget we are not stopping.

The cherry on top is that all houses, unlike during apartheid, are connected to all basic services infrastructure such as electricity, water and sanitation.

Following this campaign of restoring the dignity of poor people, floodgates have been opened for scores of people flocking to the only metro in KwaZulu-Natal for a better life.

As a result, the supply of housing is not meeting the demand, paving the way for land invaders.

The city’s Land Invasion Unit daily has its hands full in its endeavour to clamp down on this illicit behaviour.

Last year, the unit responded to 95 complaints in October, 97 in November and 43 in December.

The city allocates millions every financial year for this unit to discharge its duties religiously.

Had it not been for these worrying incidents, this revenue would have been used to carry out other service delivery programmes.

It is a fact that the mushrooming of shacks in certain parts of the city is an albatross around the neck of many property owners, because it devalues their property.

Compounding the city’s woes are leaders from certain political formations and civil society, who are taking advantage of the plight of our people and encourage them to occupy any vacant land. We denounce this irresponsible leadership and urge people not to heed such calls, for they lead to lawlessness that our city and the country do not need.

We therefore implore leaders of political parties to campaign responsibly for the coming general elections, and refrain from making statements that undermine the rule of law and tarnish the image of the country.

As a country whose economy is to a large extent premised on foreign direct investment, it is of cardinal importance that we all work together to nip this in the bud.

No sane investor will consider investing in our city and country if we disregard the law by illegally occupying private land. This will prevent growth in our economy and the creation of much-needed jobs.

The city will not win this war alone, hence we request the Church, civil society and political leaders to educate people during their gatherings about the dangers of this behaviour.

We fully understand our history as a country with regard to equitable access to land. It is of paramount importance, though, for all of us to allow the national government to lead in this regard.

Let’s wait for credible processes of land expropriation that are currently under way to be finalised. Parallel exercises in this regard will help none of us and are a recipe for anarchy.

We are a caring city, but we have taken a stance to ensure that there are consequences to anyone found invading land and putting the lives of our personnel in danger. To report land invasions 24/7, call 031 311 4699.