Mayor Plato welcomes National Government’s condemnation of land invasions but calls for additional policing support
22 July 2020
I welcome the Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu’s condemnation of the illegal land invasions in Cape Town, when she claimed, ‘We therefore call on law enforcement agencies to act decisively to halt the land invasions in the City of Cape Town.’
Unfortunately, the South African Police Service (SAPS) have played a limited role in assisting the City of Cape Town law enforcement over recent weeks. I have called on the Western Cape Police Commissioner, General Matakata, to please avail more officers to support the City of Cape and join us in a coordinated manner to protect valuable public land, which is earmarked for services, community facilities and housing projects, as well as nature conservation land, against this onslaught of illegal invasions.
In a statement issued this week, Minister Sisulu said, ‘The pieces of land being invaded are earmarked for government projects. These include providing housing for qualifying beneficiaries who have been on the waiting lists for a long time… taking away this land deprives the poorest of the poor their right to decent accommodation. We therefore call on law enforcement agencies to act decisively to halt the land invasions …The Minister believes that those who invade land should swiftly be dealt with and removed to prevent anarchy from spreading to other municipalities.’
The City’s law enforcement personnel are leading the charge in protecting land, and are stretched by eight or more coordinated invasions on a single day. We need all hands on deck now to effectively manage this situation.