Backyarders challenge De Lille
GUGULETHU backyarders who have been at loggerheads with the City over land have again erected shacks on vacant pieces of land until Mayor Patricia de Lille responds to their demands.
They have given De Lille until tomorrow to respond to their grievances.
De Lille yesterday addressed about 500 backyarders at the Gugulethu Sports Complex, many of whom were responsible for illegal land invasions over the past week.
They claimed the City had been promising them houses for years.
Following an almost twohour meeting with De Lille, backyarders defied her request not to erect shacks at the same spot where they were dismantled.
The backyarders had initially given De Lille four hours to respond to their demands, but then agreed to give her until tomorrow.
De Lille also addressed land invaders in Philippi and urged them to engage with the City about their housing needs.
“We have listened to you. We have written down all of your concerns that you have raised and there are many.
“We respect your views and concerns. You must not think I have got all the answers now. I also don’t want to give you lies,” said De Lille.
One of the backyarders’ leaders, Ludwe Joka, said it was not the first time the backyarders had raised concerns with the City.
“We are not going to ask anyone for permission, we are going to erect our homes,” said Joka at the meeting.
Another leader, Ntombekhaya Mamputa, told De Lille the City should place temporary houses on identified lands because the backyarders no longer had building material.
Bongani Ndimande said the vacant land in question were privately owned and the City had no business evicting the backyarders.
“We have done research and the purchase of the land was questionable. The sale was never published in any local newspapers and the community was never consulted,” he said.
“We are not prepared to go to court. We are going to sit there (on the land), we are going to build our shacks and stay there. We are fighting for
‘We have done research and the purchase of the land was questionable’
a piece of land in our own community.”
As a result of the protest in Gugulethu on Monday, there was no schooling at Siyazingisa and Intshinga primary schools, as stones, burning tyres and rubbish were scattered on these roads.
Protesters forced the N2 along Gugulethu to be closed temporarily. Mzoli’s Butchery was set alight and Nozinga’s Market was looted on Sunday.