Three ways to stem the swelling tide of illegal land invasions

LATELY we have heard a lot about illegal land invasions in the Western Cape. Protests have flared up about illegal occupation of land and a backlog of RDP housing.

Cape Town seems to be a very popular place to come to because it is well run and it has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, but poor people coming in tend to put undue pressure on our municipalities through unreasonable demands, service delivery protests and destruction of property.

There are three ways of stemming the tide of land invasions, which our national government is struggling with implementing.

One: We need more vigorous rural development.

Land expropriation with compensation needs to be accelerated. Partnerships with our present experienced white farmers and emerging black farmers need to be established to speed up the process. This can create more rural jobs, benefit our food security and increase our exports.

Create and develop more cities in rural areas, where local people can flock to for jobs and services and thus save on transport cost and accommodation. This will take a lot of pressure off our major cities, which are already densely populated with many social ills.

Two: There must be stricter border control. We have many illegal foreigners in our country competing for land and jobs with our locals. This also increases the risk of xenophobia. In fact, many of them also contribute to our social ills as well as overcrowding.

Three: Our population growth needs to be curbed. Our government needs to encourage people to have fewer children. Two children should be the maximum number. This can only create a better quality of life for families and reduce the levels of poverty.