Backyard dwellers from Mitchells Plain say that they won’t stop invading land until they have received homes.
In a bold move on Sunday, about 50 backyard dwellers, who call themselves the Group 4 Developers, attempted to invade the Lentegeur Sports Field but were quickly removed by City Law Enforcement officials.
The group, believed to be residents from Montrose Park (The Farm), Lentegeur and Rocklands, marked out around 20 plots to erect structures.
Wayne Dyason, spokesperson for Law Enforcement, confirms City staff cleared approximately 20 pegged plots on the property.
“Members of the community became aggressive and due to safety concerns, staff retracted from the area. An angry community member hit his spade against a City truck as a form of retaliation,” Dyson said.
Group 4 Developers chairman Riaan Koeberg says they are a non-political organisation that is assisting backyard dwellers and people living in informal settlements with housing issues.
He adds that Sunday’s land invasion was to show how frustrated mense are getting.
“We have engaged with government officials regarding the housing project of Beacon Valley and The Farm. Every time they give different stories while our people are suffering in Mitchells Plain,” he explained.
On Monday, a group stormed the Sub-council building in Lentegeur, demanding homes.
Koeberg then went to Kleinvlei to confront Ward councillor Ursula Barendse, calling on her to resign due to a lack of service delivery.
However, Koeberg was arrested for alleged intimidation.
While in the police van, he told reporters that more than 20 000 residents vannie Plain are still on the housing waiting list.
“The mayor himself doesn’t want to get involved in the development of housing for Montrose Park and surrounds, instead he is busy with a 400-home project in Woodlands,” Koeberg added.
“How many people from Mitchells Plain will benefit from that project, people are very frustrated.”
The City did not respond to inquiries about the housing projects by deadline.
The Lentegeur Sports Field is one of several facilities that will get a facelift from the City’s Community Service and Health budget of R224 million.
Fadiel Adams, leader of the National Coloured Congress, says the upgrades are necessary but there is also a dire need for housing in coloured communities.
“The waiting list has been abused. We have been very patient and sadly, land is allowed to be occupied by everyone but the coloured community,” he said.
“If that was 500 black families from the Eastern Cape, they would not have been removed,” Adams says.
Lentegeur ward councillor Avron Plaatjies says residents alerted him to Sunday’s invasion and he called in the cavalry.
“We are [now] on high alert,” he said.