Land occupation at Bloemfontein ‘is a political ploy’
─── CORNÉ GREYVENSTEIN 17:28 Sat, 02 Mar 2024

Land occupation at Bloemfontein ‘is a political ploy’ | News ArticleSocial media users have noticed that luxury vehicles are being used to drive IN illegal land occupiers.
“However, this has nothing to do with land allocation. It’s a political ploy.”

Outraged Bloemfontein residents are asked not to panic and to stay away from the area while there is apparently a large-scale, organized land occupation taking place in the south of the city. The erection of illegal structures along the Jagersfontein road started on Friday evening (1/3).

Concerned residents posted videos on social media of hundreds of families illegally occupying land along Lourierpark and near Pellissier in the south of Bloemfontein.

What upsets many residents the most is that the police or authorities do not seem to be trying to stop the land occupiers. Land occupiers, for their part, say they have now waited long enough for authorities to allocate plots to them.

A resident of Pellissier believes this is a political ploy by the ANC before the upcoming election. Photo: Screen grab/SABC

“It’s the ANC,” a resident of Pellissier told the SABC. “As a resident who lives here and as a black person who understands the challenges of black people regarding the land issue, I support the fact that people should be given land to settle on. However, this has nothing to do with land allocation. It is a political ploy.

‘This is an attempt to win the ward of the DA in the upcoming election after they have already struggled to do so for the past 15 years’

“The people who were sent here were mobilized by four ANC council members. They were moved from ANC wards in Mangaung and brought here specifically because the ward is led by a white DA councillor. This is an attempt to win the ward of the DA in the upcoming election after they have already struggled to do so for the past 15 years. It is politically motivated.

“If it had been driven by any other political party, these people would have been removed within 30 minutes.”

The DA’s councilor David MacKay from Ward 18 in Bloemfontein said in a video that the illegal action was planned by four councillors.

In a media statement, the Mangaung Metro Municipality (MMM) strongly condemned the land occupation next to Lourier Park. “All the relevant departments of the metro are present to make assessments and intervene. The MMM land occupation unit and Human Settlements filed a case. This will help our law enforcement team and the SAPS to carry out their responsibilities on the ground,” said the MMM’s spokesperson, Qondile Khedama.

He added that although the municipality has a constitutional mandate to ensure that all citizens can enjoy their basic rights and get authorized access to land and housing, they are also obliged to intervene where illegal land occupations take place.

The DA expects that the MMM will obtain an urgent eviction order on Sunday or Monday to remove the land occupiers.

SOURCE:Grondbesetting by Bloemfontein ‘is ’n politieke slenter’ | OFM