Khayelitsha residents, City of Cape Town up in arms over illegal land invasions

Angry Khayelitsha residents whose illegal structures were demolished by the City of Cape Town’s land invasion unit have stoned the vehicle of the mayoral committee member for Human Settlements, Malusi Booi.

He managed to escape without injury but his vehicle was damaged when he tried to explain to Mpolweni residents why the City could not allow illegal land invasions.

Angry Khayelitsha residents chased away City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for human settlements Malusi Booi after their shacks were demolished. Booi says building on the City land in Makhaza is illegal and in violation of the court order #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/sYKwt4x6NH

— Chris Mabuya (@ChrisMabuya) April 12, 2020

Booi wanted to tell locals that the City had obtained a court order preventing the invasion of city-owned land. He says the City will not allow acts of lawlessness.

“We get to confront that on a daily basis because people that are invading land are very much aggrieved by the fact that we come in and remove their structures. So, we’re always expecting such incidents. It’s an unfortunate situation because it’s not a way of engaging. It’s a violent way of doing things which is unacceptable.”

I have done a number of interviews on site in Khatelitsha this morning. I have to put it on record that there are no evictions being performed there. Even some of the people there say they know that what they are doing is illegal both on land ownership & lockdown regulations. pic.twitter.com/sgbanJalou

— Malusi Booi (@MalusiBooi) April 12, 2020

The former backyard dwellers say they have nowhere to go. One of the residents, Nomathemba Gqum says they have been living there since September 2019.

What is this @MalusiBooi ??? https://t.co/KgkI1397Nt

— Spitch Nzawumbi (@SpitchNzawumbi) April 10, 2020