Pretoria – Mayor Solly Msimanga has said the city has covered some ground in terms of resolving protests, including that of Mahube, which erupted on Friday morning.
Mahube home owners brought Mamelodi East to a standstill, complaining that the illegal connections by shack dwellers had yielded high bills.
The home owners barricaded the streets and closed all entrances in and out of the area, causing massive disruptions.
He said those at informal settlements should move from the land they have occupied as it was a private land.
He said they were waiting for the land owner to get a court order to remove squatters settled at the land illegally.
He said however, there were also different groups of protesters with conflict of interest in the same area. “We are aware that there are also two groups of protesters in the same area. There is war between bond home owners and squatters,” he said.
He said bond owners argued that informal settlers made their lives a living hell as there were a lot of illegal connections for water and electricity.
Msimanga said illegal connections caused power and water cuts on regular basis to bond owners. “This is why we always say we don’t want land invaders because not only do they occupy lands illegally but they also cause bigger problems such as illegal connections of electricity and water,” he said.
- Meanwhile, statements attributed to Msimanga in the Pretoria News weekend edition that the protest was a sideshow to disrupt the passing of the budget were false and taken out of context. The Pretoria News apologises to Msimanga and the City of Tshwane.