Durban - A Chatsworth community is up in arms over an attempted land grab, saying a shack settlement would hit property prices and see a spike in crime.
“Act now people of Crossmoor,” read a social media post alerting residents to a group of people who were clearing a vacant piece of land in the area.
Tony Govender, a councillor in the neighbouring ward who lives in Crossmoor, said he had noticed about 10 people cutting the grass on Monday afternoon.
“I phoned the land invasion unit and was told they close at 3pm."
“How is it that a unit that deals with something like this closes and there is no one to deal with land invasions? Once there are structures you can’t just evict these people, you have to get a court order,” he said.
On Tuesday morning more people had arrived and put up sticks with ribbons tied to them to demarcate who would build where.
Community members mobilised and gathered at a sports field next to the land. “They were too scared to confront the invaders but couldn’t just sit and do nothing,” said Govender.
The last straw was when the land was set on fire to clear the bush.
Firefighters, metro police and the municipality’s land invasion unit were called in.
Although the invaders dispersed, Govender said he was particularly concerned by the lack of reaction from ward councillor Sibusiso Khwela and other officials, to whom calls and messages went unanswered.
The Mercury attempted to reach Khwela but to no avail.
Police had to be called in again on Tuesday afternoon when clearing started after 3pm.
Residents came out and stood to watch but said they were afraid the people would be back at nightfall and there would be an informal settlement on their land by morning.
Resident Rosalyn Marimuthu said what irked her was that they would ultimately bear the brunt of an informal settlement neighbouring their homes. “Where do you think they were going to get their electricity and water from?"
“We pay, and these people just come and invade land to build, then siphon amenities from us."
“You should see the unsafe, unhygienic conditions in Bottlebrush, in fact when it’s hot we can smell it from here,” said Marimuthu.
She said she knew many people who had had to leave the homes they had grown up in, particularly because of a spike in crime. “Let’s face facts, squatter camps bring crime and we are not going to allow this,” she said.
Mzwakhe Mdlalose, vice-president of shack dwellers organisation Abahlali baseMjondolo, said: “If the municipality had a programme to accommodate people coming into the city, people would not need to invade land.”
He said they support the “use” of land.
“Shack dwellers do not take land, they use it for accommodation."
“We cannot blame them for that when they are forced to come to the big cities for better prospects. In the rural areas they come from, there are no job opportunities,” said Mdlalose. He said they condemned crime, but it was brought on by poverty and unemployment.
“Crime is a problem throughout South Africa, shack dwellers are as much victims of crime as anyone else. It’s really unfair to assume and associate shack dwellers with crime,” said Mdlalose.
Superintendent Sibonelo Mchunu said metro police and the land invasion unit responded and were monitoring the area.