We are erecting shacks on our land

Ms Rose Kwinda says nothing will stop the residents from occupying the land.

We are erecting shacks on our land

Date: 03 February 2018 By: Kaizer Nengovhela & Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

In spite of a High Court order prohibiting the unlawful occupation of land adjacent to Tshikota, residents have continued to erect shacks on the council-owned property and have vowed to continue with the invasion.

The Makhado Municipality approached the Thohoyandou High Court on 16 January, requesting an order to prohibit people from illegally occupying the land. From what could be established, the request for a court order, being uncontested, was granted. The respondents are identified as Jacob Khosa, Tshepo Sebola and “unlawful occupiers”.

Over the past two weeks, the occupation of land continued, with more threats of invasion of the land dubbed “Sihlalangenkani”. Residents continue to hold weekly meetings to plan what they call the occupation of “our new land”.

Limpopo Mirror spoke with a handful of persons who have “demarcated” stands at Sihlangenkani. The consensus among the land invaders is that they will not heed the court’s ruling to stop them from occupying the land.

A 53-year-old granny, Ms Rose Kwinda, lives with her four grandchildren in a rented RDP house in Tshikota. She has been moving from one house to another in Tshikota for the past 20 years. She has also claimed a new stand, where she has erected a sack shelter.

“I am old, my children need a home of their own, even if it requires that I secure one for them,” she said. “So, I am going to build a house on this stand with the money that I will generate through doing odd jobs. The municipality must also stop saying we are invading the land. Whose land is this? We are only occupying the land that is rightfully ours,” she said.

Unemployed Ms Josephine Msiza is a garrulous mother of eight children and grandmother of six grandchildren, who does not hesitate to tell the men around that she will take their trousers and put them on herself, should they fail to deal with the Makhado Municipality. “You must act like men,” she shouted at a group of men standing nearby, talking. “This is our place and we are placing our confidence in you that no authority will move us from this place.”

For about 27 years, Msiza had been living at her mother’s house in Tshikota. “There are so many of us crammed in her house,” she said. “Tshikota is our only place and the land belongs to us. We are erecting shacks on our land. For over 20 years we spoke with the municipality (asking them) to demarcate stands for us and they have only been giving us empty promises. So, we are only occupying the land that is rightfully ours,” she said.

The ANC Youth League coordinator in the area, Tumelo Siliga, said that the municipality should stop victimising the individuals by laying charges against them and trying to instil fear. He further stated that the municipality should refrain from testing the wrath of a community like Tshikota by reducing such a sensitive community issue to individual characters.

“Any progressive leader can see that Tshikota is congested and people in that community need more land to stay,” he said. “We urge the Makhado Municipality to find an amicable solution that will be specifically for the poor and working class, who are the majority of citizens in Tshikota. We ask that there should be a political solution and courts must be a solution of last resort.”

In an affidavit filed at the High Court, the Makhado Municipality’s municipal manager, Mr Freddy Tshivhenga, states that the municipality became aware of the action to occupy land on 7 January this year. The matter was reported to the local police, who advised that Council approach the court to obtain an eviction order.

In his affidavit, Tshivhenga argues that part of the land being occupied illegally has been earmarked as a cemetery to bury deceased from Tshikota Township. Another part of the land has been earmarked for a low-cost housing development, while yet another section has been set aside to provide in the demand of private buyers who want to develop their own houses.

“The illegal development that so continues is against all town-planning and environmental laws and will be impossible to reverse after an enduring period of time,” Tshivhenga argued.

The Makhado Municipality’s spokesperson, Mr Louis Bobodi, said on Wednesday that the municipality is currently engaging with the various stakeholders. The municipality’s representatives are meeting with the Tshikota Concerned Group to see how the grievances can be addressed. The court order was not contested, meaning that no-one is allowed to occupy the land illegally.

The Makhado SAPS’s spokesperson, Const Irene Radzilane, confirmed that the Makhado Municipality had opened a case against the land invaders. She said that the police were still waiting for a copy of the High Court order that the municipal manager, Mr Freddy Tshivhenga, had promised to send.

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