Human Settlement
With regard to the illegal invasion of land owned by subnational governments in the Western Cape:
- (a) How many vacant parcels of land have been illegally occupied since March 2020 that are owned by the (i) Western Cape Government and (ii) City of Cape Town and (b) how many of these invaded parcels of land were earmarked for housing development by the (i) Western Cape Government and (ii) City of Cape Town;
- whether housing opportunities have been lost to illegal land invasion; if so, (a) how many and (b) what are the relevant details;
- (a) what steps has his Department taken to address the continued illegal invasion of vacant land parcels owned by the (i) Western Cape Government and (ii) City of Cape Town and (b) how much money has his Department spent on protecting vacant land parcels from illegal occupation in (i) 2018/19, (ii) 2019/20 and (iii) 2020/21 to date?
1(a)(i) One parcel of land belonging to my department in Lavender Hill, erf 82055 was illegally occupied.
1(a)(ii) My department can confirm that 1025 land invasions have taken place on land owned by the City of Cape Town.
1(b)(i) The size of the land in Lavender Hill is not suitable for a housing project, however, my department is consulting the devolution of said land to the City who owns the adjacent land.
1(b)(ii) My department is unable to provide this information as the City of Cape Town’s current reporting relating to land invasions does not provide detail to this extent.
2(a) The Lavender Hill parcel owned by my department is still being occupied by citizens unlawfully. The small parcel of land was not identified for housing opportunities due to the size.
2(b) Erf 82055 Lavender Hill was invaded on the 21st January 2021. Relief was sought from the courts and an urgent interdict was granted on the 22nd of February 2021. The sheriff of the court served the interdict on the perpetrators at 16:30 that afternoon. My department also surveyed the 15 occupied structures and 1 X tent that could not be removed because of the Disaster Management Act. A survey was conducted and revealed that there are 15 households on site.
3(a)(i) My department has developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Land Invasions that was approved in October 2020. The municipalities were all informed of these procedures. It became operational with immediate effect. See Annexure A
The department finalised the appointment of a service provider specific to land invasions across the province.
3(a)(ii) My department is unable to confirm the City’s internal operations to address land invasions.
3(b)(i) 2018 /19 R91 925 035.52
(ii) 2019 / 20 R61 092 814.80
(iii) 2020 / 21 R115 887 949.60
