Illegal structures taken down in Zandspruit

Shack dwellers living in the Zandspruit informal settlement in Honeydew were left shocked after Metro police demolished and burnt to the ground all illegal shack structures in the area on 7 December.

These residents, who normally react to police by hurling stones at them when such operations take place, were caught off-guard this time, making it difficult for them to mobilise and fight back.

The Metro officers, led by Superintendent Wandile Mrubetha, were deployed to the area without being noticed by the residents and then started demolishing all the shacks and incomplete shack structures.

Mrubetha said they were given the go-ahead by the MMC for Housing, councillor Mzobanzi Ntuli, to demolish all illegal shack structures erected in the informal settlement. “Our job is to remove the structures because they are illegally occupying the land,” he said.

He added that the City cannot continue with its development plans if people continue to invade land. “It’s illegal what is being done here. This land is meant for development. Now this land can’t be developed if there’s a land invasion,” Mrubetha explained.

A few hours into the removal process, residents who had been living there for about a month, began surrounding the area. The police tore down their shacks, which were made out of tin sheeting, plastic, cardboard and wood and set them alight.

Some devastated residents tried negotiating with the officers to allow them to occupy the land while others were furious – threatening to burn Metro police vehicles and re-erect the structures.

An angry shack dweller, Margarete Dlamini criticised the Metro police for destroying structures that they had worked tirelessly to put together. “They know that we don’t have houses in Zandspruit but they continue to destroy our plans without consulting us.”

She added that they took over the land after numerous incidents of criminal activities occurring on the piece of land. “People were being raped, killed and abandoned on this land. Others were using this area as a place to dump their aborted babies and for burying people,” Dlamini alleged, as she watched her shack being taken down by officers.

Mrubetha promised to keep a close eye on the area and act on information received about land invasions.