Human Settlements
How many land invasions have taken place this year in each region of the province, (b) on how many housing opportunities have illegal occupations had an impact and (c) how much money has the (i) provincial Department of Human Settlements and (ii) City of Cape Town spent on litigation related to these sites?
a) Since the start of this financial year, my department can report on 748 land invasions within the Cape Metro Area. Due to a spate of recent land invasions within the Western Cape Province, my department has developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Land Invasions that was approved in October 2020.
Although said SOP only details internal procedures, the Head of Department informed all Municipal Managers across the Western Cape that my department is willing to assist respective municipal areas in protecting housing assets. These assets include in-progress housing development and vacant land earmarked for housing development.
The reporting mechanism for Non-Metro Areas is in the development stage as extensive consultation with Municipal Managers across the province is currently underway. At this stage, the City of Cape Town reports on a weekly basis to my department on land invasions within the Cape Metro Area.
5.(b) The only project where houses were illegally occupied is in Paternoster – Saldana Bay. The Municipality has since managed to evict 18 people out of the 20 that were illegally occupied and are busy with evictions for the last 2.
5.(c)(i) The Department has not spent funds for litigation in this regard.
5.(c)(ii) The Department is unable to respond as the information is vested with the City of Cape Town and enough time is required to source same.
