Anti-land invasion unit gets R10m budget June 08,

Brenda Nkuna

THE City of Cape Town is spending R10 million in the current financial year to fund its Anti-Land Invasion Unit.

This is to safeguard housing projects it says "are being threatened by systematically planned and executed land invasions".

But anti-eviction organisations have slammed the unit, saying the money could be better spent elsewhere.

They have warned that the unit's existence will lead to "war" between communities and the city.

The unit, established to monitor, stop and evict those who attempt to erect shacks illegally, addressed 29 land invasions during the 2008/09 financial year, according to its head, Steve Hayward.

These included 17 in Helderberg, six in Tygerberg, two in the South/Central region and four in Blaauwberg.

Hayward said that in all 29 land invasions the unit had succeeded in removing people from city-owned land. It had obtained eight court interdicts to prevent people from further occupying land.

In the latest high-profile incident, Macassar backyarders invaded city-owned land on May 19. The invasion saw rubber bullets being fired by police and the backyarders being evicted.

Hayward said that in the Macassar case structures had been taken down and building material confiscated, but that the material had been returned to the backyarders last week.

Macassar backyarders argue that their eviction was illegal, but Hayward denied this, arguing that the backyarders had attempted to take land "in an unlawful manner".

Anti-Eviction Campaign spokesman Mncedisi Twalo said he was "upset" by the way the unit had treated backyarders, and warned of mobilisation in the Western Cape because of what he described as people being "unfairly" treated.

He said while expensive infrastructure such as malls were being built, there were thousands in need of houses.

Cape Town's housing backlog is estimated at 400 000.

Twalo was critical of the money allocated to the unit, arguing that "so much money could have been used to build houses, instead of going to a unit that has formed war between communities and the city". - West Cape News

http://www.capeargus.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5026432
Macassar Village residents torch truck in protest

June 08, 2009 Edition 2

Luleka Damane

A PROTEST over service delivery turned violent today when residents of Macassar Village burned tyres and attacked and torched a bread truck.

Police believe that the protest started at about 5am and calmed down by 8am.

Kramat Road was closed this morning while the road was being cleared of the burning tyres and the bread truck.

Provincial police spokesman Superintendent Andre Traut said the bread delivery truck had been on Kramat Road when it was stopped by five men who told the driver to step out the vehicle.

The men then set it alight.

The truck driver was not harmed and fled the scene.

Traut said a case of hijacking had been opened at Macassar police station.

He said police had a reason to suspect that the hijacking and torching of the truck were linked to the service delivery protest.

Traut said between 50 and 100 people had protested.

This the second protest in Macassar Village in the past few weeks.

Last month backyard dwell-ers, protesting against the slow roll-out of houses, burned tyres and threw stones at police officers.