Cape Town | Friday
POLICE fired stun grenades on Thursday at some 350 squatters south of Cape Town, after they tried to invade municipal land, a policeman said.
Captain Jacques Wiese said residents of the Mandela Park squatter camp in Hout Bay, some “armed with spades and pangas” tore down a municipal fence and moved onto adjacent land on Wednesday night, throwing stones at policemen who tried to stop them.
“As police and law enforcement agents prevented the group from trespassing, stones were thrown at them. A number of rubber bullets were fired by two policemen and the group eventually dispersed.”
The squatters returned on Thursday morning, moved onto the land and again clashed with the police, who this time fired stun grenades.
Wiese said the Hout Bay municipality has obtained a court order to evict the land invaders, but an AFP photographer at the scene said the crowd had dispersed quietly.
Residents of Mandela Park claim that the adjacent land belongs to them as it was earmarked for a low cost housing development in 1994. The houses have never been built.
Cape Town has seen a spate of small scale land invasions, as residents in crowded shantytowns became increasingly impatient for proper housing in the wake of heavy winter rains which have flooded thousands of shacks.
Government admits that some seven million South Africans lack proper housing but has vowed not to tolerate Zimbabwe-style land invasions and announced a law amendment that could see invaders sentenced to two years in jail. – AFP