Minister Sisulu commits to addressing policing challenges in Cape Town with Police Minister

28 July 2020

Statement by Executive Mayor, Alderman Dan Plato

Following the recent spate of violent land invasions in Cape Town that has seen several pieces of land illegally invaded and occupied, I welcomed the request from the National Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu to meet with me and the City’s Human Settlements Management Team.

I raised my concerns regarding the lack of police support for anti-land invasion operations in Cape Town and Minister Sisulu agreed to take this up with the National Minister of Police, Bheki Cele.

It was agreed by all that land invasions cannot be tolerated and must be prevented. I appreciate the National Minister’s support in this regard given the overwhelming coordinated nature of land invasions and related criminality.

The Minister further agreed that land invasion is not an acceptable alternative to backyarder disputes with landlords, who may not evict tenants under lockdown, and that this should be reported to SAPS.

The City further discussed our Human Settlements plan with the Minister.

The City’s commitment is reflected in the City’s budget, which has earmarked more than R850 million in the medium-term for upgrades to informal settlements and backyarder services in response to the growing trend of informality in our metros and across the country.

Attempts to invade land and illegally occupy City projects are threatening housing and human settlements projects to the value of some R1,3 billion.
Should these projects be lost, it will not only be to the extreme detriment of potential and future beneficiaries, it is to the detriment of Cape Town as a community. The City is doing all it can to prevent the continued attempts to invade land and projects.

The mainstreaming of basic service delivery to informal settlements and backyard dwellers remains a key priority for the City. The City’s Upgrading Informal Settlements (UIS) programme has been ongoing for many years.

This has come as the City’s response to the growing trend of informality brought on by urbanisation in Cape Town as well as in the rest of South Africa’s cities.

It has also been developed as a way of catering to the large-scale accommodation needs for lower income groupings and with the realisation that formal housing alone will not address the housing need in South Africa. This requires a mixture of accommodation types, and the City alone cannot shoulder the impact of urbanisation on its own. It needs national government collaboration as well as more private sector partnerships.

End

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office