Durban - The owners of land at Ballito which has been the target of an EFF “land grab” since the weekend have accused the party of using this exercise to “gain publicity” through setting up of Facebook pages and hiring of a professional photographer to document the event.
On Tuesday Greenlands Farm Pty Ltd secured an urgent interim interdict against the party and its leadership, barring them from setting foot on the land or erecting any structures on it.
The EFF has until May 7 to oppose the order’s being made final although provincial spokesman Tobias Mthiyane - who attended the hearing in the Durban High Court carrying the trademark EFF red overall in his hand - indicated that the party might be back in court sooner than that, asking for its own order to stop the company from proceeding with any development there.
In an affidavit which came before Judge Fikile Mokgohloa on Tuesday, company representative Ian Deetlefts said it was about to embark on a commercial development of the property, adjacent to the N2 just before the Ballito turn-off.
He said the land invasion began on Sunday when people moved on to the land and began digging holes, assumed to be for fences or other supports to prop up makeshift structures.
He spoke to Mthiyane, who said “the government was not giving these people land so they were taking it for themselves”.
“I asked him directly: ‘How do you resolve this issue?’
“His response was: ‘Get an interdict and we will vacate.’”
The following day he returned to the property and the police were present. A structure had now been erected, poles had been inserted into the ground and grass had been cleared.
A crowd of about 100 people had gathered about 1km away. They confirmed they were on their way to occupy the land and “set up business” there to sell items to others in occupation. Again, the leaders said they would desist only by court order.
Deetlefts said in the meantime two Facebook sites were already “live”, one called “Ground Zero - EFF Land Grab” and another “EFF Land Grab Ballito”. The latter had almost 1 000 “likes” by Monday afternoon.
He said it seemed the EFF leadership was encouraging the invasion and suggesting it had the right to do so.
“It is clear the EFF is using this to gain publicity. It would appear that a professional photographer was engaged to take a photograph of the shack on the property,” he said.
“This must have been arranged in advance with the object of gaining publicity and causing a media sensation.”
After the judge explained that she was granting the interim order and the EFF “must stop doing what it is doing”, Mthiyane asked if the company was entitled to do what it wanted with the land.
Judge Makgohloa said the company had put up proof that it owned the land and the party must put up opposing papers if it could prove otherwise.
The Mercury