Seven Tanks families offered temporary accommodation

THE Department of Human Settlements has offered temporary accommodation to the 37 families remaining in the secluded Seven Tanks community, following violent land grabs.

Spokesperson Mbulelo Baloyi said yesterday that MEC Ravi Pillay had met with residents of this Chatsworth community, who asked that security be provided. However, as 24-hour security by police or metro police was not feasible, the department had arranged interim accommodation pending a permanent solution.

Pillay is due to meet with residents again on Monday to finalise the way forward.

Krishnee Padayachee, a lifelong resident of Seven Tanks, said the land invaders had, for years, held them under siege.

While they had initially been resistant to moving from the land, which most residents farm for profit, the invaders had become so violent that most of the families now wanted to move, she said.

“They come across the Umlaas River every weekend and start chopping trees and clearing the bush to build. This past weekend a large group came and stoned houses, and beat a dog,” said Padayachee.

She said residents were going to view the accommodation offered by the department on Saturday, to ascertain if it is suitable for them. They would then make the heartbreaking decision to leave the area, which some families had farmed for more than 150 years.

The area is within the protected Silverglen Nature Reserve, which Shaun Hammond, chairperson of the Silverglen Conservancy, has been trying to revive for years.

“The land invaders burnt tyres, overturned a resident’s bakkie then dropped a 5m gate into the nursery, where they petrol-bombed a car belonging to a horticulturist,” he said.

Hammond said it was not safe for the Seven Tanks community and the reserve staff.

Sithenjwa Nyawose, a ward councillor for one of the sections in uMlazi that borders the river, acknowledged that many of the alleged invaders came from his ward.

“There is a lot of work we have done for people who used to live in shacks and are now living in government housing. But, the problem is these are still overcrowded, as families continue to grow while people are still unemployed. People just see what they perceive as vacant land and, forced by their circumstances, stake a claim on it,” he said.

He said he did not condone the use of violence.

Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane confirmed police were investigating a case of malicious damage to property.