The City of Tshwane sends a stern warning to those who encourage land invasions through the use of shack farming.
Tshwane Executive Mayor, Randall Williams said that Tshwane has a zero-tolerance approach towards illegal activity and stands ready to demolish these structures and prosecute wrongdoers.
“Shack farming occurs when criminals seek to erect several shacks illegally on unoccupied or vacant land with the intention of selling and renting out these structures for personal financial plan,” Williams says.
According to the Media statement, the teams recently received information that there are groups of people putting structures illegally at Soshanguve block MM and Olievenhoutbosch Ext 24.
Williams says responding promptly, their teams verified information and were able to quickly dispatch the Tshwane Metro Police Department Land Invasion Unit together with the service providers to demolish the illegal structures in both locations.
“In Soshanguve block MM the teams successfully demolished 55 illegal structures that were incomplete and unoccupied,” added Williams.
However, he revealed that the teams met with resistance by a small crowd trying to prevent the city from enforcing law.
According to Williams, this led to the teams to fire a few rounds of rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. He assured that no one was injured.
He said, “The second incident occurred in Olievenhoutbosch Ext 24 where our teams moved in to demolish 45 illegal structures.”
Williams exposed that the teams received assistance from the South African Police Service to ensure that the operation was successful and incident free.
He commended the City of Tshwane teams for acting against the attempted land invasion and shack farming.
