Land Invasion In Strand And Subsequent N2 Shutdown | Western Cape Government

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Land Invasion In Strand And Subsequent N2 Shutdown

25 April 2019

Exactly 12 days from now, South Africans will be casting their votes in the 6th democratic elections since 1994. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen an escalation of ‘service delivery’ protests. While we respect the right for any individual or groupings to protest, a right enshrined in our Constitution for a just and legitimate course - many of these protests are motivated and instigated by political opportunists for electioneering purposes. These are people who break the law with impunity, disregard processes and flout the rules in order to be prioritized above the most deserving law abiding citizens.

The protest action in Strand that resulted in the closure of the N2 was orchestrated by the Land Party for political reasons. This was a repetition of the 2014 protest just before elections as well which resulted in the invasion of the SANRAL land which is initially reserved for the expansion of the N2. Subsequent to that, the leadership of Ses’Khona movement illegally sold the land which did not belong to them and resulted in the number of illegal land invaders increasing drastically. SANRAL tried in vain to move people out of that land. Now, the government is under pressure to move at least 800 families in the servitude in order for the City to provide basic services. Housing Developments Agency (HDA) was tasked by SANRAL to find alternative land for these people.

The land occupiers are now forcing our hand to move them to another piece of land owned by SANRAL that is earmarked for road expansion. If we do that, it will jeopardize the entire road expansion which is needed to deal with challenges of road congestion. We can’t allow that to happen. Upon hearing about this plan, Overnwacht Community adjacent to this land demonstrated to the Council offices demanding an explanation for this.

A meeting was convened this morning by Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Dan Plato, attended by Minister of Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela, Deputy Mayor, Ian Nielsen, Mayoral Committee Members for Safety and Security, Ald JP Smith, Human Settlements, Malusi Booi and Spatial Planning and Environment, Mariaan Niewoudt, Sub-Council 8 Chairperson, Cllr Chantal Cerfontein, Cllrs Pringle, Punt, officials from SANRAL and Senior officials from Province and the City of Cape Town. This was a follow up to a meeting held by Minister Madikizela on Wednesday with SANRAL, HDA and the City last week where this matter was discussed extensively.

The following resolutions were made:

  1. The City is in the process of buying two pieces of land up 74 hectares where people will be accommodated.
  2. Before then, profiling of these individuals must be conducted in order to ensure their status on the waiting list.
  3. A meeting will be convened at Sub-Council 8 with all the stakeholders on the 30th of April at 11h30.
  4. Subsequent to that, a meeting will be convened with the adjacent community, Ovenwacht to communicate our stance as government and the way forward.

We must uphold the law, we can’t be bullied by people who are hell bent on bypassing processes for political opportunistic reasons.

Media Enquiries: 

Mrs Ntomboxolo Makoba-Somdaka
Spokesperson for Minister Bonginkosi Madikizela
Tel: 021 483 4798
Cell: 082 953 0026