Johannesburg - A crowd of Nellmapius residents gathered near the site of recent attempted land occupations on Thursday morning, but made no renewed advances to move onto the land, Tshwane metro police said.
“Today we have 200 to 300 people gathering next to the road that runs between Pretoria and Bronkhorstspruit,” said Senior-Superintendent Isaac Mahamba.
“They are just singing. There are no problems at the moment.”
On Wednesday morning, residents of Nellmapius, east of Pretoria, tried to erect shacks on the land, which the African National Congress in Gauteng said had been earmarked for low cost housing.
The shacks were removed, which apparently angered residents.
Mahamba said metro police tried negotiating with them, but talks broke down when residents were informed that the ward councillor for the area was not available to speak to them.
Residents threw stones at metro police and barricaded roads with rocks, tree branches and burning tyres. Metro police responded by firing rubber bullets.
Economic Freedom Fighters Nellmapius branch chairman Vusi Msiza said the land occupation began on Sunday.
“We found people on the land who were trying to erect shacks,” he told residents on Wednesday.
“As the EFF found them here, then we decided to support the community, because we are all affected by this.”
Tshwane metro police would approach the High Court in Pretoria on Thursday to seek an interdict against occupation of the municipal land, city spokesman Blessing Manale said earlier.
Sapa