Some 90 families were forcibly removed after their dwellings were torn down by a Blouberg local government in Limpopo in Senwabarwana, west of Polokwane following a court decision. It is alleged that the homes were illegitimately built on municipal property.
R7000 per stand and forcibly removed
According to Times Live, the residents allegedly paid R7k per stand to a person purporting to be the land’s owner, according to the local government.
“As the municipality, we are pursuing a court order against the unauthorized inhabitants of this municipality-owned land.
“The tenants purchased sites from a person who claimed to be the land’s owner. We had discussions with them for more than three years, but no resolution was reached. Because of this, we chose the legal path, and a judge ordered the illegal occupiers to take down their buildings.
“We are using the court’s sheriff to enforce the court order that was granted last year. According to municipal spokesman Peter Moruthane, “We are demolishing all unauthorized constructions placed here.
Refilwe Ramothwala, the municipal manager, sent out a notice to the unlawful occupiers on Sunday informing them of the impending demolition.
‘We will crush more homes’
He issued a warning that the municipality would demolish the illegal buildings on the farms as well as the remaining portion of the farm in an effort to resolve illegal land occupation.
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According to Ramothwala, the Limpopo high court in Polokwane issued a ruling on October 19, 2021, ordering any individuals who had illegally entered the farms to demolish any constructions there within 72 hours.
He said that it stated the municipality, along with the authorities, was authorized to remove such persons and remove any structures if the illegal occupiers failed to remove structures on the farms and/or failed to quit the property.
Ramothwala claimed that the municipality had already notified the illegal land occupants of the court decision.
The municipality had no choice but to carry out the court decision because “the illegal occupants failed to cooperate.”
Forced removals are still happening in South Africa
Forced removals in South Africa refer to the practice of forcibly removing people from their homes and communities, often based on their race or ethnicity, under the apartheid system of racial segregation that was in place from 1948 to 1994. The policy of forced removals was part of the apartheid government’s efforts to separate different racial and ethnic groups and to create segregated areas for each group.
During this period, people of color, particularly black South Africans, were often forcibly removed from their homes and communities and relocated to designated areas that were often far away from their places of work, family, and social support networks. Many of these removals were carried out without due process, and residents were given little or no warning or compensation for their loss of property or livelihood.
Forced removals had a devastating impact on the lives of millions of people in South Africa, many of whom were left homeless and destitute, and who suffered from the social, economic, and psychological effects of displacement for many years afterward. The policy also contributed to the social and economic inequalities that continue to affect South Africa today.
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In the post-apartheid era, the South African government made efforts to redress the effects of forced removals and to provide compensation and restitution to those who were forcibly removed, but they are still not enough. But the reality is that forced removals are still happening in South Africa to this day. Because of a shortage of land and land hunger, people often fall victim to various land scams.
he claimed.