14 building sites and human settlement projects across Gauteng have been left for occupation by illegal invaders in the past five years.
The inability of the Gauteng MEC of Human Settlements, Lebogang Maile to put in place an operation to remove illegal invaders has left the province unable to fast-track the delivery of houses to many beneficiaries who have been on the waiting list for decades.
This information was revealed by MEC Maile in a written reply to the DA’s written questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).
According to the MEC, the human settlement projects in the following areas have been invaded:
Ekurhuleni: 4
West Region: 3
Johannesburg: 1
Tshwane: 3
Sedibeng: 3
Many of the projects have been invaded by armed organised individuals and the department has opened 12 cases. This is a huge financial setback for the department as some of the houses were invaded at various stages of construction before completion.
The illegal invaders have severely negatively impacted the rightful beneficiaries who must now wait longer for their houses.
The DA demands that the department put measures in place to safeguard their projects to ensure that the illegal invaders are stopped before they attempt to invade housing projects.
The department must work with the law enforcement agencies across the province to stop and evict these illegal invaders. The only solution to stop the illegal invaders is for the department to ensure that there are no delays in the completion of housing projects. The completed housing projects should be handed over to the rightful beneficiaries immediately after completion so that they are not vulnerable to being invaded.
The department is losing more money in evicting the illegal invaders and fixing the housing projects that have previously been illegally invaded, hence, it is crucial for the illegal invaders to be stopped before attempting to invade.