Community activists in Suurbraak were woken by the destruction of their shacks on the hamlet's Rossouw Plein near the main road, as the Swellendam municipality sent out the Red Ants to demolish their structures.
Residents and activists have been living on the land in makeshift shacks since May in protest over the municipality’s lack of service delivery.
Residents have been living in the town’s community hall since the July storm.
Mawubuye land activist Reinette Heunis said the shacks were torn down without warning.
“Our people are living in there and they came with no notice or an official court order to evict us. We had no choice but to leave,” said Heunis.
The move by the Swellendam municipality showed that they were not going to address the legitimate concerns of the community, she said.
The protest, led by the Suurbraak Civic Association, the Suurbraak Youth Movement and the Mawubuye Land Rights Forum, was over lack of housing and development and recreational facilities for youth. Last month residents handed over a memorandum to the municipality.
Meanwhile, violence broke out in Thembalethu in George after the provincial Department of Human Settlements demolished 87 structures built on portions of land on Tuesday.
The department said it had obtained an interdict to demolish the illegal structures.