Land invaders remain defiant
“THEY can come with their rubber bullets and teargas, we are not moving.”
That was the message from hundreds of residents who invaded a stretch of land in KwaNobuhle, Uitenhage on Friday.
They have vowed to stay put despite the court ordering them to move.
Armed with the picks and spades they had used to clear their sites, the group waited anxiously yesterday for the police to show up.
Some structures had already been erected while other people were clearing bush to build their shacks.
The group occupied the area following encouragement from the EFF and PAC.
Litha Golotile, 33, said they were not willing to move.
“We are tired of the government’s tedious, bureaucratic processes. We have been waiting for houses for many years,” Golotile said.
“There is nothing wrong with us occupying a vacant land. We are not fighting with anyone, but we will not move from this place.”
“They can come and move us with rubber bullets but we are going nowhere,” some residents said.
“No police officers will move us here. Mayor Athol Trollip should come and address us himself,” they said.
The EFF’s former deputy chairman in the Bay, Bo Madwara, said they had, in fact, encouraged more people to occupy the land.
“People need houses and there is vacant land, what should they do?” Madwara asked.
The municipality’s political head of human settlements, councillor Nqaba Bhanga, confirmed that the metro had secured a court order to force the people to vacate the land.
“Those people will be removed from that land,” he said.
“We can’t allow people to illegally occupy just any vacant land.”