The road to an occupied piece of land in Kanana Park, Johannesburg, is strewn with rocks and burning refuse that have created a makeshift barrier between land occupiers and police.
Kanana Park, mainly comprising Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses, is a place of hope, residents tell Business Day. Yet families of more than 10 people often cram into the tiny government-built houses.
The settlement is on the outskirts of Johannesburg, cut off from the economic lifeblood of the city. Poverty and unemployment are rife here.
Fed up with being crammed into RDP houses and with the lack of economic opportunities in the area, residents took matters into their own hands and started occupying vacant land they say has been vacant for about 15 years. They do not know who owns it.
After they started erecting shacks, the authorities caught wind of it. On Wednesday, the Johannesburg metro police stepped in, as the occupation of the land is deemed illegal.
Metro officers entered the area under the protection of a police armoured vehicle, which was pelted with rocks.
Given Ndou, an EFF member and one of many community leaders, tells Business Day the occupation of the land is about the dignity of black people who lack the money to pay for rent using social grants and also have to contend with joblessness and living under appalling conditions.
"We are not asking for the land. We are taking the land," says Ndou.
"That’s what we are doing, right here," he says.
Residents say the motion passed by Parliament, that the Constitutional Review Committee investigate how section 25 of the Constitution should be amended to provide for land expropriation without compensation, did not influence their decision to occupy the land. The committee has been given until August to conclude the process and thereafter report to Parliament.
"We were planning to take the land before the motion was passed in Parliament," a resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says.
The Kanana Park land occupation is not unique. In fact, land occupations are not a new phenomenon and appear to have become more prevalent. The issue is particularly more apparent in Gauteng, especially in Midrand and Tshwane, which have become flashpoints.
In Tshwane, officials attended to 4,406 land occupations in 2017 alone. The metro demolished 3,161 structures erected on the sites.
Tshwane says it cannot deal with all the land occupations in its jurisdiction because some of the land may be owned by other government departments or by private owners, which complicates the process.
The large housing backlogs in Tshwane and Johannesburg are no secret either, while the influx of new residents places added pressure on shortages.
Gauteng premier David Makhura said last week that police in the province were on alert and he was opposed to land occupation.
The premier has said that land occupation is a breach of the law.
Makhura has advocated for a fresh approach to resolving the land question. He has also conceded that the provincial government has known for a while that people have been making calls for land to be made available so they can build their own houses and start economic activities.
Makhura encouraged all municipalities, provincial departments and land owners to have standing court interdicts to prevent illegal land occupations, and said that law enforcement agencies had to act promptly when land occupations were reported.
Private land owners in Olievenhoutbosch, a settlement near Midrand, heeded this call and headed to the High Court in Pretoria last week in a bid to force the police to take action when structures are erected on their land.
Yasmin Omar, who represented the land owners, said the requirement to go to court when land was occupied in order to force occupants off the land would have a detrimental effect on those who lacked the deep pockets needed for litigation, adding that the police and the municipalities had a constitutional duty to help protect them.
Michael Sun, mayoral committee member for public safety in Johannesburg, has told Business Day that land occupations are a national problem, and not just a Gauteng issue. Sun has urged the national government to make it clear that legislation has not been changed yet to allow for expropriation without compensation, as he believes that citizens are under a different impression.
They will "take land as they wish", he cautioned.
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