Steuart Wright
ALMOST 160 illegal squatters who received confused messages from=20 politicians including President Nelson Mandela about their future were=20 charged with contempt of court this week. The squatters, from Mandela and Slovo Parks outside Umtata, are accused=20 of defying a court order compelling them to leave their piece of prime land=
In June they began erecting shacks on land near the former South African=20 embassy to Transkei while claiming that they had permission to occupy the=
land from the late housing minister, Joe Slovo. Mandela gave his stamp of approval to Slovo=D5s promise when he visited=20 the squatters last month and even released a statement saying that after=20 discussions with the Eastern Cape government it was decided to drop court=
action against the squatters. Umtata residents have complained that they paid exorbitant prices for=20 inferior land while squatters paid R10 for prime property and illegally=20 erected shacks. However, only days after the Mandela visit, both central and provincial=20 government backtracked on the presidential guarantee and the squatters=20 were served with an interdict ordering them off the land.=20 Premier Raymond Mhlaba said Mandela had been misinformed about the=20 circumstances surrounding the illegal occupation. Mandela then called for=
an end to the illegal occupation. Transkei police spokesman Captain Monde Nqadini said police trucks=20 swooped on the settlement this week and arrested 158 residents after =D2we=
thought they would leave that place on their own but they didn=D5t=D3. A spokesman for the South African National Civics Organisation, which=20 has taken up the cause of the squatters, could not be reached for comment.=
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