July 2001 Africa News Headlines

Tuesday, July 17, 2001 - Web posted at 10:36:04 GMT

More land invasions feared in SA

WESTERN CAPE - Land hunger in the Western Cape is threatening to spark a series of invasions by the homeless, led by political groups, the province's top land official warned.

The weekend's show of force by Khayelitsha homeless, who stormed a piece of land in Macassar, is seen as a precursor of the kind of anarchy the province could face.

Fears of such a scenario were mounting as the last 50 illegal squatters were being forcibly removed from Bredell, near Kempton Park in Gauteng, after a land invasion supported by the Pan Africanist Congress.

Last week Western Cape land claims commissioner Allan Roberts went on an emergency mission to the rural areas, including the Karoo and the southern Cape, after reports of organised land invasions reached his office.

Roberts said he did not want to be alarmist, but there was growing dissatisfaction among the landless and the thousands on housing and property restitution waiting lists.

Plans were afoot in several areas to organise invasions, mostly led by political parties.

"I'm convinced there has been intervention here by political parties. My office heard land grabs were imminent and plans were under way to invade private and state land. We acted immediately and managed to halt this."

"Roberts said although he sympathised with land-hungry people, anarchy would hamper land restitution and the housing process even further."

My heart bleeds when I see the conditions those (rural) people live under.

But they must understand that land grabs merely upset the housing queues.

Restitution can't take place in anarchy.

We simply have to look next door.

In Zimbabwe we see almost no development and their currency's value has dropped dramatically.

"Roberts said people's frustration at the legacy of apartheid, which will take years to overcome, was fuelled by political parties spurring communities on to often lawless actions."

People must understand that illegal action will not lead to prioritisation as far as my programme is concerned.

One does suspect that there is intervention of political parties in these issues and this is unfortunate because there is a legal and legislative framework to work in.

Ruth Hall, a senior researcher at the Centre for Rural Legal Studies, said there was a growing need for land in the Western Cape, especially in the rural parts of the province, where there was a rising trend of retrenchment and evictions from farms.

As a result, Hall warned, Bredell-type land invasions could happen here if there was no growth strategy focusing on rural development.

"It will be short-sighted to assume land invasions will not happen in the Western Cape," she said.

The ANC says 2 900 hactares of state land is lying unused across the province.

The report estimates there are 40 000 pieces of vacant land within the unicity, mostly privately owned.

The housing backlog is 220 000 units and the ANC believes a delivery rate of 25 000 houses a year is required to eliminate it by 2016.

The Land Claims Commission says areas where claims will be prioritised include Langebaan, Malmesbury, Franschhoek, Ndabeni, Simon's Town, Grabouw, Prince Albert and Mossel Bay. - Cape Argus

•  Big Brother Africa 3: The audacity of Hazel!
•  Big Brother Africa 3: Who's your winner?