Bristling Hornlee boils over
Five people have been arrested in Knysna for public violence in the wake of riots that broke out on Sunday 20 September in Hornlee, where a crowd of hundreds blocked the N2 at Lamco, cutting off the flow of traffic in and out of Knysna.
A reaction officer and numerous residents were shot in the ensuing fray.
Injuries were sustained on both sides and Lamco service station was looted in the process. In a press release issued on the same day by Knysna Municipality, the suburb was described as being "under siege" and Knysna Mayor Elrick van Aswegen said the residents' actions were "destructive, violent and criminal" and the town would not stand for such "abhorrent behaviour" any longer. "This municipality is now drawing a line in the sand and will take any and all steps necessary, through the channels available to us, to make sure that the situation is brought under control and the perpetrators are held responsible for their detestable actions," the statement read.
'Court order needed'
The chairperson of community watchdog organisation Knysna United, Ralph Stander, said on Sunday that the Western Cape High Court made a ruling that no municipality is allowed to break down "illegal structures" without a court order for that specific structure. "That decision is applicable to all municipalities in the Western Cape and entire country," Stander said. He called the actions by the municipality illegal and said
Knysna United will lay charges against the municipality and its leadership.
"Do Knysna United condone the looting? Definitely not. We however understand that it's caused by Knysna Municipality and all the years of neglect and discrimination," Stander stated. He extended sympathy to the owners of the business and promised to assist them to recover their losses from the municipality.
High Court ruling
According to Mail & Guardian, the ruling that Stander refers to was handed down last month by the Western Cape High Court, preventing the demolition of, or eviction of anybody from, any shack, hut, tent or dwelling for the duration of the national state of disaster, unless a court order is obtained. The article also stated that "if court permission is granted for any eviction, law enforcement or any contractor appointed by the city should undertake to execute the eviction in a manner that upholds the dignity of the evicted people. They are also prohibited from using excessive force or from confiscating the personal belongings of individuals". Yonela Diko, spokesperson for the national Ministry of Human Settlements, told Knysna-Plett Herald (KPH) on Monday: "If a structure is erected and someone is settled in that structure, then a local municipality or anyone who wishes to evict that person and break down that structure must have a court order. This applies even if it is on private land."
A Red Ants officer was shot, but because he wore a protective vest he sustained no serious injuries. An officer was “pelted with stones and sustained injuries to his head”.
The municipality was asked whether it had obtained a court order to deconstruct the homes in Hall Street, and its spokesperson Christopher Bezuidenhout replied on Wednesday 23 September, "There was no need for a court order in this regard as the structures were not occupied.”
But Lynn Kayster of the Hornlee Housing Committee disagreed. "Some of the homes might have been sparsely furnished," she told KPH on Wednesday, "but they had beds in and people were sleeping in them."
Tension started day before
Tension in the area started rising on Saturday 19 September when municipal law enforcement officers arrived at a site near Hall Street where the municipality said illegal structures had been erected. According to Hornlee community leader Neil Louw, he immediately called upon the municipality to remove the officers from Hall Street as he feared they could return with excessive force. "Excessive' force means Red Ants," Louw told KPH, "and we had wanted to avoid such a situation."
On Sunday at roughly 07:00, the Red Ants arrived in the area and began taking down some of the structures erected in Hall Street. In the municipality's press release on Sunday, Van Aswegen wrote, "No legitimate homes were removed and no residents were removed from their homes. The buildings in question were illegal structures that were illegitimately constructed on land not owned by the illegal dwellers."
Conflict escalated
According to Louw, the residents started forcing the Red Ants and municipal law enforcement from Hall Street and the conflict escalated when the Red Ants fired rubber bullets and residents attacked with rocks. The Knysna police were called in to assist. Said Southern Cape police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Pojie: "The destruction of structures by Red Ants and law enforcement officials from Knysna Municipality started the protest action." Public order policing (Pops) had reached the riots in two waves on the day, according to Pojie - the first just after 10:00, with reinforcements arriving at about 15:00. The municipal press release stated that a Red Ants officer was shot, but because he wore a protective vest he sustained no serious injuries. According to Pojie, a police officer was "pelted with stones and sustained injuries to his head and left side of his face, above the eye". By the time the opposing factions had reached Lamco service station just off the N2 shortly before 10:00, the situation had spiralled into a full-blown riot with hundreds of participants. The advancing residents forced the police and Red Ants down the
N2, blocking the highway traffic to and from Knysna. Both Lamco General Store and Hornlee Hotel's bottle stores were targeted by looters.
'General lawlessness'
"Members of the community responded by destroying property, plundering businesses and, once again, blocking the N2 national highway to traffic,” Van Aswegen said. “The situation degenerated into chaos due to instigators simply looking for an excuse to indulge in destruction, theft and general lawlessness. I condemn this kind of irresponsible behaviour strongly, as does Council and the administration. We will not stand for this any longer." According to Kayster, the Red Ants provoked a situation that could have been resolved in a more peaceful manner. "Owners of the structures were pleading with the Red Ants for them to have the opportunity to take down their own structures in a decent manner instead of having their building material damaged as they were," she said.
She called the looting unforeseen and uncalled for, adding that with riots of such magnitude "it is inevitable that criminal elements would take advantage of the chaotic situation at hand. But by no means do we condone any criminal activity at any given time".
Kayster said Knysna Municipality "needs to take responsibility for setting off such a ticking time bomb in Hornlee after we asked to call off such instructions at first and set a meeting on Monday 21 September with the necessary councillors for a more peaceful solution". She said residents had rebuilt the deconstructed structures and moved back in after the fracas on Sunday. Yesterday afternoon, 23 September, the N2 in Plettenberg Bay near Qolweni was once again closed due to civil unrest. Vehicles were diverted to an alternative route via Airport Road.