Cape Town councillor ‘kicked by angry mob’, as land invasions soar
There’s been a huge rise in land invasions since lockdown came to Cape Town – and those trying to intervene have been physically abused.
The City of Cape Town has vented its frustration at the number of land invasions taking place during the state-mandated national lockdown. At least 16 separate incidents have taken place in the past few weeks, exhausting the resources of the municipality.
Land invasions spike in Cape Town
The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Malusi Booi, has been at the forefront of trying to prevent the land invasions. But he says that he was “kicked by a mob” during one site visit, as locals blame city officials for ‘evicting’ tenants in these structures – something Booi claims is untrue:
“I was onsite over the weekend, threatened with violence and even kicked by an angry mob. So I am intimately aware of the situation on the ground. There has been a spike in land invasions in the first few months of this year compared to the corresponding time last year.”
“The level of violence perpetrated by members of the public during some of the operations has increased. The illegal occupation of vacant land during this period may have dire consequences. These illegal settlements have no access to services, which is a concern due to the serious health, fire, and safety risks.”
Malusi Booi
COCT address ‘evictions’
Elsewhere, The DA also raised an issue with the Gauteng Provincial Government on Monday, after an alleged land invasion took place in Eikonhof, Gauteng. It’s reported that more than a thousand people were involved in the illegal occupation of state-owned property in the south of Johannesburg. It seems Cape Town has encountered the biggest spike, however, and moved to set the record straight on Wednesday:
- “No evictions” have been recorded / taken place anywhere in the Cape Town Municipality, according to Booi
- In Khayelitsha, the City is only removing illegally erected unoccupied structures.
- The global health crisis and subsequent lockdown “can’t be used to justify lawlessness and unlawful behaviour”.
- New land invasions as these will “directly impact” on the city’s crisis response, officials have warned.
"Since the national lockdown started, including over Easter Weekend, there have been at least 16 known attempted land invasions in total, where illegally erected & unoccupied structures have been removed by the City" -Cllr. Malusi Booi
— City of Cape Town (@CityofCT) April 15, 2020
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