Fight for land, RDPs gets ugly in Olievenhoutbosch
Illegal occupants vow not to move
Illegal occupants of RDP houses and land in Olievenhoutbosch Ext 27, Centurion, barricaded roads with rocks and burning tyres yesterday in what they say is an attempt to stop the government from evicting them.
Godwin Ratikwane, general secretary of the Independent Democratic Union of SA and an EFF member, said the provincial human settlements department has been threatening to evict people from about 888 RDP houses.
He also said there were about 300 families who were being threatened by the City of Tshwane with eviction from illegally occupied land.
While the residents are said to have been living in the houses illegally, he said: “These people are the rightful owners of the RDP houses. The government was dragging its feet to allocate and the people chose to occupy them.”
Ratikwane said the people have been staying there for just over a year.
“The people moved in here just before the hard lockdown last year. Why should people suffer with accommodation when there is plenty of unused land here?”
Ratikwane said the residents were tired of constant threats from provincial government and the municipality.
“They failed to provide us with a service and we came up with a solution ourselves so they must leave us alone.
“We will not be intimidated by police and the government. We’ve built our lives and homes here,” Ratikwane told Sowetan’s sister publication, TimesLIVE.
Tshwane metro police spokesperson Isaac Mahamba said traffic in the area was heavily affected but their officers were monitoring the situation.
“All roads leading to Olievenhoutbosch are barricaded with objects and burning tyres. Affected roads include the R55 [and] Thatchfield Road,” Mahamba said.
In September last year, Sowetan reported that the Gauteng human settlements had instructed the state attorney to obtain eviction orders to remove people who had allocated themselves governmentsubsidised houses and invaded unoccupied land.
Human settlements MEC Lebogang Maile told journalists at the time that illegal occupation of houses was a serious problem affecting the delivery of houses to those who qualify.
The invasion of land and RDPs has been a problem for the provincial government and municipalities in Gauteng.
The Red Ants had in many instances sent in for evictions.