The Deputy Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Sihle Zakalala, issued eviction notices to over 100 illegal occupants who hijacked state-owned properties in Cape Town. 

Two of the properties in question are located in Goodwood and Khayelitsha, which were meant to be used by the South African Police Service (SAPS) were hijacked and are currently being occupied illegally. 

Zikalala issued the eviction notices on Sunday, August 31, while leading Operation Bring Back (OBB) in Cape Town.  

Failure to comply will result in the courts being approached for contempt and violation of the order which will result in evictions being carried out by law enforcement agencies.

The nationwide operation led by Zikalala is intended to recover all state land and property. Some of the properties include those that have been vacated by user departments without being brought back to the department, and have become vulnerable to illegal occupation. 

As a result, some of the properties are run down to overcrowding and dilapidation, and lack of management by state institutions to which such as allocated. 

The Department said duing its Cape Town leg of the nationwide operation, many whistle-blowers have come forward, while some even brought physical evidence to Zikalala of stolen properties by commercial entities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). 

Zikalala visited the first property during the operation in Goodwood, that was donated to the asset portfolio of government by a citizen, Clair Shelly Bouton, to be used by the SAPS. In her will, she stated the property needed to be used by the SAPS for fighting drug abuse in the community. 

However, the Department said the building, which has since been hijacked, is believe to be used as a drug peddling den. 

Illegal occupants invaded the property and even erected temporal structures. Currently, the property houses 12 illegal occupants including children. 

The second property Zikalala visited is a 946.90 hectare on Stellenbosch Road near Khayelitsha allocated for mixed use by the SAPS including residential accommodation, public order policing, stock theft, anti-gang units, and as a shooting range. 

“The farm was used to accommodate SAPS officials, many of whom have since left after being deployed to other areas, leaving many of the houses vacant.

The farm has huge amount of land which has been illegally occupied, and informal settlements proliferation is taking place,” the Department said. 

It said the Deputy Minister’s visit revealed a huge problem of hijacked state properties not only by the poor and people desperate for houses but by big commercial entities, NGO’s and hoodlums posing as owners and collecting rent money from illegal occupiers.

“Clearly, the problem of illegally occupied, hijacked, and stolen government properties is extensive and underestimated. We are seeing a strong element of poor management of state assets that are handed over to client departments who do not hand them back to the department those allocated vacate them,” Zikalala said.

The Deputy Minister has vowed to intensify the operation in the coming months. 

“A support programme which includes the appointment of property specialists has been developed to identify, audit, analyse, evict, and recover illegally occupied and hijacked buildings. The focus is on all buildings that are supposed to be in the immovable asset register of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure,” Zikalala said. 

The Departmant said in carrying out evictions of land and buildings by an unauthorised occupant, the department follows legal processes including the Prevention of Illegal Eviction (PIE) from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act, 19 of 1998, which regulates the eviction of unlawful occupiers from land and property in a fair manner, while recognising the right of landowners to apply to a court for an eviction order in appropriate circumstances.

robin.francke@iol.co.za

IOL

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