City is building on private property
Land invasion a problem – but who are the real victims here?
dig on his property last week as part of a city initiative to provide facilities for shack dwellers. The construction workers were apparently instructed by the municipality to start work on the site, as well as four others. Matai wants answers as to how the city made decisions without consulting him. “It seems as if the city is encouraging invaders to take ownership of any land. “When I asked the workers what they were doing on my property, they became hostile and started to throw rocks at me. One of them also told me to “f*** off back to India”. “Don’t come to my house and have attitude with me, even if you are from the municipality,” he said. Matai discovered that one of the city’s engineers, Ednick Msweli, had authorised the work. He called Msweli, who was unable to say why the municipality granted the work order without his permission. Matai said the city needed to do something about land invasion. “Over the past two years this area has become the target of land invasions. “These are well organised groups of people who, I suspect, are being helped by one or more political parties. “Our repeated cries for help have fallen on deaf ears. Both the police and the municipality claim there is no illegal activity,” he said. There has been electrical and water theft as often as three times a week. Matai said he had demolished new shacks on numerous occasions and suggests the council buy his property. When City Watch spoke to a few shack dwellers this week, they said they paid R450 rental for the shacks and an additional R100 for electricity that was connected illegally. They pay the money to “shack lords”, whose identity they refused to disclose. Nokulunga Ntozakhe moved into the area two months ago. “The only reason we are here is because it is closer to work and the space was vacant. We do not care whose property it is. “The city needs to find us homes. We portray a picture of beauty for tourists, but they don’t show the other side of poverty. How can we achieve the title of Africa’s most caring and liveable city by 2030 when our basic needs are not being met?” Head of Communications for the eThekwini municipality, Tozi Mthethwa, said numerous attempts were made to find the rightful owner of the property before they commenced the project. “Our database gave us a different name and when the individual was contacted, he gave us permission for the city to use the land. “An agreement was signed between the city and the individual, but prior to the commencement of construction the rightful owner of the property contacted the city. New negotiations had to be undertaken. These, to our knowledge, have been positive,” she said. Mthethwa said land invasion was rife and recommended that property owners who have land under threat apply for court orders and report trespassing to the SAPS.