Pretoria - “It’s time to quit this job,” muttered a Tshwane metro police officer as he dragged burning tyres from the middle of Pretoria Road in Nellmapius. Another officer nodded in agreement as he lifted a concrete block used to barricade the road by angry residents in their stand-off with police.
Armed police officers delved deeper into the township to prevent residents from regrouping and illegally occupying a large piece of land bordered by the N4 and Pretoria Road.
The residents ran helter-skelter, fleeing from police officers who were firing rubber bullets to prevent the crowd from regrouping and occupying the land.
Police in Nyalas and protective gear kept watch over the area in anticipation of further violence.
But the residents who invaded the land since Sunday were unrelenting. EFF Nellmapius branch chairperson Vusi Msiza, said party representatives in the area found people on the land erecting shacks and supported them as members of the community.
Msiza said the EFF, despite being known for advocating land grabs without compensation, was not responsible for the chaos that erupted, neither did it organise the illegal land grab.
But ANC Gauteng spokesman Dumisa Ntuli said the land grab was used by the EFF as a tool to create chaos, was illegal and bordered on anarchy.
Msiza said residents had been told the city wanted to build low-cost houses but wanted land so they could build their own houses.
An estimated 5 000 had grabbed a piece of the land, acquired by the City of Tshwane from a private owner. Msiza said the EFF had nothing to do with it.
“We simply decided to support the community.”
Floyd Mtungwa, one of the residents, lamented that he arrived late and thus could not get land, but was caught up in the violent confrontation between police and the residents.
“I will return later,” he said, holding a spade he had intended to use to mark his site. “The say the land has been earmarked for a housing development, but what’s the point when we are poor and have no money to buy the houses?”
City of Tshwane mayoral spokesman Blessing Manale said the metro’s department of housing was informed about the squatter camp and alerted the metro police’s land invasion unit, which is co-ordinating an operational response to ultimately evacuate the land occupiers permanently.
Manale said the city was seeking an urgent court interdict, including costs, against the EFF, alleged to be the instigator of the land grab. “We regret that our plans to formalise and improve the living conditions of people are deliberately being undermined by the EFF, which will delay the relocation and development of the area to ensure a safe and secure community,” he said.
“We remain committed to fast-track the process of formalising informal settlements, proclaiming townships, issuing title deeds to RDP beneficiaries and relocating families who have settled illegally on public and private land.”
Executive mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa said he viewed the protest as an early election gimmick by political parties aiming to create a rift between the community and its political leadership.
He called on Nellmapius residents to work with the city in the integration of a better Tshwane where all had equal access to economic opportunities, social amenities and municipal services.
Pretoria News