Land invasion in South Africa

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Land invasion in South Africa is seen as the illegal occupation of land with the intention of erecting dwellings or establishing a settlement on it [1] and is an issue that is affecting various municipalities in South Africa especially in the face of increased urbanisation in bigger metropolitans [2] like The City of Cape Town, eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality [3] and the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. [4]

Contents

Causes of Land Invasion in South Africa

Land invasion is sometimes coordinated acts that have been associated with lawlessness and criminal activity [5] and in some instances, it is said to be politically driven. [6]

According to the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements (previously the Department of Housing), [7] 2003, some of the catalysts for land invasions include;

During the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa, there was an observed increase in land invasions, whereby people illegally occupied land after experiencing job losses and salary cuts, and were unable to afford rent in formal accommodation but still needed to live close to work. [8]

The City of Cape Town

The City of Cape Town alone had seen 300 land invasions between January 2020 and September 2020. [9]

In 2009, the city established the Anti-Land Invasion Unit (Cape Town) in an effort to stop people from illegally attempting to occupy land . In 2011 the city stated that the unit demolished about 300 illegally shacks each month. [10] Between July and September 2020, the City of Cape Town alone had demolished over 60 000 informal structures as part of its anti-land invasion operations. [11]

Unlawful occupations had led to the establishment of 54 new settlements of various sizes across the city since the start of the Covid-19 lockdowns from March 2020. [12] In May 2021 an additional allocation of R170.8 million for added security was approved by the City of Cape Town's council to protect its land against unlawful occupiers. [12]

This brought the total budget allocated for protecting city land to prevent the negative fall outs of unlawful occupation to approximately R252 million in the new financial year according to the City of Cape Town.

As a whole the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements, said it had already spent more than R355 million to prevent illegal land invasions and the illegal occupation of completed units. [13] Between July 2020 and 28 February 2021, there were 1 078 attempts of illegal land invasions across the province, with the majority being in the Cape Metro. [13] The province said this means, with the exclusion of the bulk services, approximately 2 150 Breaking New Ground (BNG)/free housing units could’ve been built. [14]

City of Johannesburg - Rabie Ridge Land Invasion

In April 2020, over 2 000 people attempted a land invasion in Rabie Ridge, [15] assuming it was government owned land which had not been developed for a number of years. [16] [17]

However, it was later clarified that the land was under private ownership, with the majority shareholder being a private company called the South African Housing and Infrastructure Fund (SAHIF). [15] Chief Executive Officer of SAHIF, Rali Mampeule, engaged with disgruntled community leaders and protestors to resolve the situation. The South African Police Service and the Johannesburg metro police deployed officers to patrol area, and ensure the safety of other residents and passers-by outside the property while the protests were underway. [18]

The usual approach to land invasion remains evictions or relocation, but this is a challenging process for landowners (private or government), local authorities as well as policy makers. [19] [20]

Legislation that relates to Land Invasion

There are laws in place that are intended to assist landowners, law enforcement officers and other authorities with land invasion and eviction. [19] Depending on the situation, the following laws are applicable:

See also

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In 2009, the Anti-Land Invasion Unit was created by the City of Cape Town in an effort to stop people from illegally attempting to occupy land. In 2011 the City stated that the unit demolished about 300 shacks each month. The Anti-Land Invasions Unit is the biggest unit in the City's law enforcement operation.

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References

  1. ↑ "STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (SOP) FOR ILLEGAL LAND OCCUPATION" (PDF).
  2. ↑ Griffiths, Jordan (October 20, 2020). "OPINIONISTA: Illegal land occupations undermine effective functioning of local government across South Africa". Daily Maverick.
  3. ↑ "Land invasions costing eThekwini millions | eNCA". www.enca.com.
  4. ↑ Mokgatlhe, Kenneth. "Law firm's report warns of increased land invasions". www.iol.co.za.
  5. ↑ Staff Writer. "Criminals are using South Africa's lockdown for land invasions: City of Johannesburg".
  6. ↑ "Human Settlements MEC suggests Strand land invasions were politically motivated". Archived from the original on 2022-03-07.
  7. ↑ "UNLAWFUL OCCUPATION OF LAND" (PDF). www.westerncape.gov.za.
  8. ↑ "Shaka's Head land invasion sees shacks mushroom on municipal land". March 18, 2021.
  9. ↑ Booi, Malusi (September 3, 2020). "Illegal occupations affect us all, says Mayco member". GroundUp News.
  10. ↑ "South Africa: Cape Town anti-land invasion unit acting illegally, say rights lawyers | Pambazuka News". www.pambazuka.org. March 4, 2016.
  11. ↑ Meyer, Dan (September 4, 2020). "City of Cape Town demolishes 60 000 structures in three months". The South African.
  12. 1 2 Staff Reporter. "City forks out R170.8m more for security in the fight against Cape land invasions". www.iol.co.za.
  13. 1 2 Mthethwa, Cebelihle. "Western Cape saw more than 1 000 land invasions in past 10 months". News24.
  14. ↑ "Western Cape spends R355-million on preventing illegal land invasions | South African Government". www.gov.za.
  15. 1 2 "Give us time and space to develop the Rabie Ridge land - Housing fund". 702.
  16. ↑ "Rabie Ridge stand-off: Community and landowner at loggerheads | eNCA". www.enca.com.
  17. ↑ "Shots fired at Rabie Ridge land invaders | eNCA". www.enca.com.
  18. ↑ "Rabie Ridge residents fight to erect shacks on private land they illegally occupied". www.iol.co.za.
  19. 1 2 "Respond to land invasion | South African Government". www.gov.za.
  20. ↑ "Land invasions: City of Cape Town, Western Cape | PMG". pmg.org.za.
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